Abstract: How does one reconstruct the fictional world in the text reasonably? Before the emergence of the possible worlds literary theory, this issue was not clearly or sufficiently elaborated. The possible worlds literary theory holds the following ideas. Firstly, the idea that the fictional world enjoys independent ontological status, as well as certain independence and autonomy, allows readers to reconstruct the fictional world more reasonably by means of symbols and textual information. Secondly, readers follow two “intentional functions” to reconstruct the fictional world, with the authentication function determining the facts in the fictional world and the saturation function determining the density of these facts in the fictional world. Finally, readers also follow the theory of “recentering” and “the principle of minimal departure” to fill in the gaps in the fictional world as well as further improve and enrich such a world. The possible worlds literary theory provides a novel and effective scheme to elaborate on the ways in which readers reconstruct the fictional world, but there are still some issues that need to be further addressed in academic discussions.

Key words: the possible worlds literary theory, readers, the fictional world, intentional function