Lubomir Dolezel
Encyclopedia
Lubomír Doležel is a Czech literary theorist and one of the founders of the so-called fictional worlds theory.
and received his PhD in Slavic Philology
from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Many of his teachers and mentors were representatives of the so-called Prague School, an internationally recognized and influential centre of inter-war structuralist and semiotic thought. The spirit of the Prague School is evident in Dolezel's PhD thesis On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction (published in Czech in 1960) and inspires his later work. In the 1960s Dolezel worked concurrently as research fellow in the Institute of Czech Language of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and as assistant, and later associate, professor of the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University. He was engaged primarily in the application of mathematics (especially statistics), information theory and cybernetics to the study of language and literature. He founded and co-edited a series entitled "Prague Studies in Mathematical Linguistics".
In 1965, Doležel was invited as visiting professor to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he stayed till 1968. He co-edited (with Richard Bailey) a collection of studies Statistics and Style (American Elsevier, 1969). After his return to Prague he was appointed research fellow of the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, but in the fall of 1968 he left his native land after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
. He was invited to the University of Toronto
as visiting professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, where he later became full professor. He established the study of Czech language and literature at the university. In 1982 he was cross-appointed to the Centre for Comparative Literature. His main research interest has been the theory of literature, with a focus on narrative (narratology
). Doležel's theoretical position was strongly influenced by analytic philosophy, especially by the conceptual framework of possible worlds. On his retirement in 1988, the Centre organized an international conference "Fictions and Worlds".
Doležel has read papers at many North American and European universities and international conferences. He was visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, University of Munich and Charles University. He published numerous papers on the history of poetics, narratology and fictional semantics, and a couple of books on the same subjects, list of which can be found below.
Life, Work, and Academic Career
Doležel was educated at Charles University in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and received his PhD in Slavic Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Many of his teachers and mentors were representatives of the so-called Prague School, an internationally recognized and influential centre of inter-war structuralist and semiotic thought. The spirit of the Prague School is evident in Dolezel's PhD thesis On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction (published in Czech in 1960) and inspires his later work. In the 1960s Dolezel worked concurrently as research fellow in the Institute of Czech Language of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and as assistant, and later associate, professor of the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University. He was engaged primarily in the application of mathematics (especially statistics), information theory and cybernetics to the study of language and literature. He founded and co-edited a series entitled "Prague Studies in Mathematical Linguistics".
In 1965, Doležel was invited as visiting professor to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he stayed till 1968. He co-edited (with Richard Bailey) a collection of studies Statistics and Style (American Elsevier, 1969). After his return to Prague he was appointed research fellow of the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, but in the fall of 1968 he left his native land after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. He was invited to the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
as visiting professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, where he later became full professor. He established the study of Czech language and literature at the university. In 1982 he was cross-appointed to the Centre for Comparative Literature. His main research interest has been the theory of literature, with a focus on narrative (narratology
Narratology
Narratology denotes both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French...
). Doležel's theoretical position was strongly influenced by analytic philosophy, especially by the conceptual framework of possible worlds. On his retirement in 1988, the Centre organized an international conference "Fictions and Worlds".
Doležel has read papers at many North American and European universities and international conferences. He was visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, University of Munich and Charles University. He published numerous papers on the history of poetics, narratology and fictional semantics, and a couple of books on the same subjects, list of which can be found below.
Work
- O stylu moderní české prózy (On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction), 1960
- Narrative Modes in Czech Literature, 1973 (revised edition in Czech 1993)
- Occidental Poetics: Tradition and Progress, 1990
- Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worlds, 1997