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Exploration and arrangement in physical and social worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Keith Oatley*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canadakeith.oatley@utoronto.ca; https://sites.google.com/site/keithoatleyhomesite

Abstract

Fiction involves exploring imaginative arrangements of places and characters: elements that can be recognized by readers. In childhood, exploration occurs from a safe home base of a caregiver; fiction enables a comparable basis. Physical elements in fiction are settings. More important are social explorations: transactions with characters that can include transformation. This is illustrated by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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