I have just found a really good article from the Boston Globe titled 'why is fiction good you'
The article starts off talking about the negative public perception of fiction at different times in history then goes on to try and explain why we have come to this hold these views. The article then looks at recent studies that shed light on how we are affected by reading fiction and the positive effect it has on us and society. I have just found this article while at work so will give it another more detailed read later and research the sources that are quoted in it.
The article talks about fiction being able to change peoples ideas and beliefs even more so that nonfiction. research has shown that when we read nonfiction we are sceptical and keep our guard up but when we become immersed in a story we let our guard down and become more impressionable.
"perhaps the most impressive finding is just how fiction shapes us: mainly for the better, not for the worse. Fiction enhances our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds. More peculiarly, fiction’s happy endings seem to warp our sense of reality. They make us believe in a lie: that the world is more just than it actually is. But believing that lie has important effects for society — and it may even help explain why humans tell stories in the first place."
For a long time people have debated whether fiction is detrimental to society, these debates have culminated in events such as book burnings. Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic. it is possible that one the reasons that fiction been attacked on so many occasions is just how powerful it is. The average American spends 4 hours a day watching television. The content could be another reason that fiction has been condemned is the subject matter. From television to novels to plays there has always been a tendency for fiction to tackle morally repulsive behaviour and with the impact that we are starting to understand it can have on a persons views, should we be worried?
psychologist Raymond Mar writes, “Researchers have repeatedly found that reader attitudes shift to become more congruent with the ideas expressed in a [fictional] narrative.”
The article states that studies have reliably shown that "when we watch a TV show that treats gay families nonjudgmentally (say, “Modern Family”), our own views on homosexuality are likely to move in the same nonjudgmental direction."
History has also shown us how much of an influence fiction can be on the morals of a society either in a negative or positive capacity. two polarising examples of this are "Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” helped bring about the Civil War by convincing huge numbers of Americans that blacks are people, and that enslaving them is a mortal sin. On the other hand, the 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation” inflamed racist sentiments and helped resurrect an all but defunct KKK. "
Fiction can be incredibly influential on society having a positive or negative impact. But is it down to the author to determine the moral values of their work. I don't think it is entirely possible to guarantee that people will react to a piece of fiction the way it was intended and there is also the possibility of the story being misused or misunderstood. For example 'The Protocols of The Elders of Zion' was written as a work of fiction but 60 years later it was used as propaganda by the Nazi's and some people to this day still don't believe the book is a work of fiction. This must be a scary thought for anyone who writes fiction.
One thing that fiction manages to do that should be able to unite all sections of society is increase our capacity for empathy. Studies have shown that people who spend a lot of time reading fiction out perform nonfiction readers on tests of empathy.
"novelist George Eliot, that one of fiction’s main jobs is to “enlarge men’s sympathies.”"
"As Oatley puts it, fiction serves the function of “making the world a better place by improving interpersonal understanding.” "
"one study showed that small children (age 4-6) who were exposed to a large number of children’s books and films had a significantly stronger ability to read the mental and emotional states of other people."
"Washington & Lee psychologist Dan Johnson recently had people read a short story that was specifically written to induce compassion in the reader. He wanted to see not only if fiction increased empathy, but whether it would lead to actual helping behavior. Johnson found that the more absorbed subjects were in the story, the more empathy they felt, and the more empathy they felt, the more likely the subjects were to help when the experimenter “accidentally” dropped a handful of pens — highly absorbed readers were twice as likely to help out. “In conclusion,” Johnson writes, “it appears that ‘curling up with a good book’ may do more than provide relaxation and entertainment. Reading narrative fiction allows one to learn about our social world and as a result fosters empathic growth and prosocial behavior.” "
"As the Brandeis literary scholar William Flesch argues, fiction all over the world is strongly dominated by the theme of poetic justice. Generally speaking, goodness is endorsed and rewarded and badness is condemned and punished. Stories — from modern films to ancient fairy tales — steep us all in the same powerful norms and values. True, antiheroes, from Milton’s Satan to Tony Soprano, captivate us, but bad guys are almost never allowed to live happily ever after. And fiction generally teaches us that it is profitable to be good. "
"In Appel’s study, people who mainly watched drama and comedy on TV — as opposed to heavy viewers of news programs and documentaries — had substantially stronger “just-world” beliefs. Appel concludes that fiction, by constantly exposing us to the theme of poetic justice, may be partly responsible for the sense that the world is, on the whole, a just place.
This is despite the fact, as Appel puts it, “that this is patently not the case.” As people who watch the news know very well, bad things happen to good people all the time, and most crimes go unpunished. In other words, fiction seems to teach us to see the world through rose-colored lenses. And the fact that we see the world that way seems to be an important part of what makes human societies work. "
The article talks about fiction being able to change peoples ideas and beliefs even more so that nonfiction. research has shown that when we read nonfiction we are sceptical and keep our guard up but when we become immersed in a story we let our guard down and become more impressionable.
"perhaps the most impressive finding is just how fiction shapes us: mainly for the better, not for the worse. Fiction enhances our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds. More peculiarly, fiction’s happy endings seem to warp our sense of reality. They make us believe in a lie: that the world is more just than it actually is. But believing that lie has important effects for society — and it may even help explain why humans tell stories in the first place."
For a long time people have debated whether fiction is detrimental to society, these debates have culminated in events such as book burnings. Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic. it is possible that one the reasons that fiction been attacked on so many occasions is just how powerful it is. The average American spends 4 hours a day watching television. The content could be another reason that fiction has been condemned is the subject matter. From television to novels to plays there has always been a tendency for fiction to tackle morally repulsive behaviour and with the impact that we are starting to understand it can have on a persons views, should we be worried?
psychologist Raymond Mar writes, “Researchers have repeatedly found that reader attitudes shift to become more congruent with the ideas expressed in a [fictional] narrative.”
The article states that studies have reliably shown that "when we watch a TV show that treats gay families nonjudgmentally (say, “Modern Family”), our own views on homosexuality are likely to move in the same nonjudgmental direction."
History has also shown us how much of an influence fiction can be on the morals of a society either in a negative or positive capacity. two polarising examples of this are "Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” helped bring about the Civil War by convincing huge numbers of Americans that blacks are people, and that enslaving them is a mortal sin. On the other hand, the 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation” inflamed racist sentiments and helped resurrect an all but defunct KKK. "
Fiction can be incredibly influential on society having a positive or negative impact. But is it down to the author to determine the moral values of their work. I don't think it is entirely possible to guarantee that people will react to a piece of fiction the way it was intended and there is also the possibility of the story being misused or misunderstood. For example 'The Protocols of The Elders of Zion' was written as a work of fiction but 60 years later it was used as propaganda by the Nazi's and some people to this day still don't believe the book is a work of fiction. This must be a scary thought for anyone who writes fiction.
One thing that fiction manages to do that should be able to unite all sections of society is increase our capacity for empathy. Studies have shown that people who spend a lot of time reading fiction out perform nonfiction readers on tests of empathy.
"novelist George Eliot, that one of fiction’s main jobs is to “enlarge men’s sympathies.”"
"As Oatley puts it, fiction serves the function of “making the world a better place by improving interpersonal understanding.” "
"one study showed that small children (age 4-6) who were exposed to a large number of children’s books and films had a significantly stronger ability to read the mental and emotional states of other people."
"Washington & Lee psychologist Dan Johnson recently had people read a short story that was specifically written to induce compassion in the reader. He wanted to see not only if fiction increased empathy, but whether it would lead to actual helping behavior. Johnson found that the more absorbed subjects were in the story, the more empathy they felt, and the more empathy they felt, the more likely the subjects were to help when the experimenter “accidentally” dropped a handful of pens — highly absorbed readers were twice as likely to help out. “In conclusion,” Johnson writes, “it appears that ‘curling up with a good book’ may do more than provide relaxation and entertainment. Reading narrative fiction allows one to learn about our social world and as a result fosters empathic growth and prosocial behavior.” "
"As the Brandeis literary scholar William Flesch argues, fiction all over the world is strongly dominated by the theme of poetic justice. Generally speaking, goodness is endorsed and rewarded and badness is condemned and punished. Stories — from modern films to ancient fairy tales — steep us all in the same powerful norms and values. True, antiheroes, from Milton’s Satan to Tony Soprano, captivate us, but bad guys are almost never allowed to live happily ever after. And fiction generally teaches us that it is profitable to be good. "
"In Appel’s study, people who mainly watched drama and comedy on TV — as opposed to heavy viewers of news programs and documentaries — had substantially stronger “just-world” beliefs. Appel concludes that fiction, by constantly exposing us to the theme of poetic justice, may be partly responsible for the sense that the world is, on the whole, a just place.
This is despite the fact, as Appel puts it, “that this is patently not the case.” As people who watch the news know very well, bad things happen to good people all the time, and most crimes go unpunished. In other words, fiction seems to teach us to see the world through rose-colored lenses. And the fact that we see the world that way seems to be an important part of what makes human societies work. "
No comments:
Post a Comment