ABSTRACT
The aim of narratology whether in its classical or post-classical version has always been to find definitional criteria that will determine what 'all and only narratives have in common'. It has generally been assumed that the theory concerns how readers make sense of narratives should be valid for both what are called natural narratives and narrative fiction. However, this assumption has been challenged by theoreticians advocating a 'separatist' approach. When David Herman discusses two approaches to literary fiction in The Emergence of the Mind, he uses the term 'exceptionalist' to describe the approach he call 'separatist' Herman, who advocates the alternative approach, maintains that readers understand fiction as they understand nonfictional narratives or perhaps, although this is not totally clear, even situations they come across in their daily life. The one difference is that readers of fiction are always conscious that they are not presented with a falsifiable version.
