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Referential density
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<h2 id="relative-density">Relative density</h2> <p>Relative (referential) density builds upon the abstract definition of referential density by including context sensitive factors such as the degree of external information the reader has to import to his reconstruction of the fictional world, the text's narrative crowding, the ratio between action and description, and the <a href="/facts/Epistemology/NsDwpcYH">epistemic</a> paths chosen by the text. These factors will usually have more impact on the number of references in a text than its amplitude. </p> <h2 id="significance">Significance</h2> <p>Referential density and relative (referential) density account for much of what makes fictional texts 'thick' or 'easy' reads. All other factors being equal, high density will make for difficult reading in that the reader is required to reconstruct the fictional world in a short space, whereas low density is characteristic of a high degree of action. An author may, however, focus on psychology and thereby have a static <a href="/facts/Plot_(narrative)/wSgKPzb2">plot</a> with low density. On the other hand, certain authors and genres make the reader's reconstruction of the fictional world the very point of the text's enjoyment, which is the case with most works of <a href="/facts/Science-fiction/d9hE2Lwt">science-fiction</a>, <a href="/facts/Fantasy/gkujmhJg">fantasy</a>, and <a href="/facts/Historical_fiction/fIhoVb6M">historical fiction</a>. </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Pavel, Thomas G. Fictional Worlds. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1986. ISBN 0-674-29966-3 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Doležel, Lubomir. Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worlds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1998. ISBN 0-8018-5749-X <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Ryan, Marie-Laure. Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991. ISBN 0-253-35004-2 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>