Sharing real and fictional reference

This chapter extends the framework of MSDRT (Mental State Discourse Representation Theory) to the problem of reference in fiction, and to the role and function of fictional names. Central to the investigation is the notion of an Entity Representation (ER), a central feature of MSDRT and used previously in the communication-theoretic analysis of the pragmatics and semantics of non-fictional names in Kamp (2015). As argued in that paper, the use of proper names within a speech community leads to networks of connected ERs in the mental states of their users. These networks provide the names with a kind of intersubjective identity. In this respect, fictional names resemble non-fictional names—those that refer to real entities, that exist in the actual world in which we live. This chapter proposes an analysis of fictional names and fictional reference that capitalizes on this resemblance.