Incorporating Realist Fiction into Dialogical Theories of the Self

Abstract

The study of realist fiction can illuminate and expand dialogical theories of the self, especially those originating in M.M. Bakhtin’s writings. To overcome the criticism that the study of the literary criticism surrounding major works of fiction has no place in psychology and needs no input from it, I advance the concept of the Edited Other. The concept states that, in analytic and related forms of psychotherapy, specific and paramount modes of self-presentation are represented within the context of theoretical constructs, while, in works of realist fiction, authors isolate characters’ dominant characteristics within the context of novels’ plots. To instantiate the Edited Other I choose one of Mario Vargas Llosa’s novels ( The War of the End of the World). I select Vargas Llosa because of his mastery of varied forms of novel, his well-developed moral philosophy, and his deep understanding of literature’s role in society. Furthermore, The War of the End of the World, almost uniquely, can be compared to a supposedly factual account of the events portrayed in the novel (Euclides da Cunha’s Rebellion in the Backlands). I use the Edited Other in order to demonstrate that Vargas Llosa, by using fictional characters, provides contemporary readers with bridges linking them to and giving them imaginative access to historical events.