What does Caudwell imply by 'The novel blots out external reality by substituting a more or less consistent mock reality'?
Pick an option to check yourself, or open the answer below.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. The reality of fiction has no existence independent of the words, and our emotional responses are directed by them
Explanation
Per the key, the fictional world is built from words, which guide the reader's emotions.
Note: Passage II is from Christopher Caudwell, Illusion and Reality (1937), which is copyrighted and not reproduced. Caudwell argues that poetry, through rhyme, metre and inversion, distorts the structure of external reality to exalt 'the structure of the self', drawing attention to its own language. The novel instead 'blots out external reality by substituting a more or less consistent mock reality' of people and scenes; its emotions attach to that world, so rhythm, 'preciousness' and style are alien to it, and novels translate well. Key debatable: the passage stresses that the novel's world is not the words themselves.
More Reading Comprehension questions
- What is meant by 'mock reality' in the passage?
- If rhythm, 'preciousness' and style are alien to the novel, in which genre are they distinctive features?
- Pater's claim that imaginative prose should be the special art of the modern world implies:
- Which expression is closest to the meaning of 'fervid'?
- Artistic literature is the representation of:
- What does the author mean by 'the less ambitious form of literature'?