ABSTRACT
The basic argument in this chapter draws on T. Pavel's 1986 book, Fictional Worlds, but re-interprets it in the light of contemporary multimodality theory and reflections on space and time in fiction and 'non-fiction'. Pavel's contribution to literary theory is based on a discussion of modal logic in relation to segregationalist notions that "there is no universe of discourse outside the real world". Rhetorically, Pavel sees the real world as one of a number of possible worlds arrayed on an inclusive spectrum. Realist literature would be close to the assumed real world: "Not merely a set of stylistic and narrative conventions, but a fundamental attitude toward the relationship between the actual world and the truth of literary texts". Narrative poetry does not sit easily within the expressive, lyric tradition. Most contemporary poetry does not reach epic proportions. It is more modest: not necessarily in theme, but in scale.
