摘要
This paper, as a part of a larger research project entitled Amazon. Realities in the Novels and the Imaginary Reports of Travelers, focuses on the following objectives： （1） the ＂referentiality＂ of the text to the external world （goal, empirical stuff）; and （2） understanding fictionality in terms of＂make-believe＂ and the principle of＂internal coherence＂. The main section sets out the theoretical foundation of the relation between facts/events and fiction, both as pragmatic and fictional texts. Then, the paper investigates in which forms and ways existing facts, data, occurrences, events and narratives in various kinds of texts constitute a representation and interpretation of the world. The central focus of the study is on the Amazon region. The study is an experiment in joining together different types of texts around the notion of＂referentiality＂; emphasizing reference to the external world （factuality）, the reading of the component elements of a language and a discourse （narratology）, historical reading against the horizon of expectation （reception theory） and the interpretation of the retrospective.
