ABSTRACT In this Introduction to the special issue, we highlight the power of using fictionality, especially as understood by rhetorical narratology, as a means to the end of conceptualizing science. We first illustrate how what we call the fi-sci pattern mapping framework serves this end, and then offer an overview of the issue’s articles. Some present applications of rhetorical fictionality theory, including fi-sci pattern mapping, while others propose alternate approaches to the means-end project of the issue. Together, the articles showcase the many ways in which fictionality has been—and can continue to be—used to enrich our understanding of science.
Trauvitch et al. (Fri,) studied this question.