Rationale

My theme is escapist fictions relationship with the development of empathy and what effect it has on societies and individuals. I want to investigate the negative associations with escapism such as avoiding problems and addiction. I would also like to investigate the extent of fictions impact on society since the invention of the printing press. There are many studies that suggest fiction helps us to develop a wider and further reaching range of empathy. Although escapism has negative connotations empathy is broadly seen as positive, however Paul Bloom has written about the problems with empathy for both society and the individual. I would like to investigate societies views of both escapism and empathy and the problems encountered when challenging these views. I would like to try and find processes that are linked to escapism or empathy and use stories, characters and themes well known works of fiction to tackle the pro's and cons of escapist fiction and empathy as a "guide to social policy". A common description of fiction or escapist activities is that they are a doorway to anther world, whether it be a new place to explore or a familiar, comforting place to hide from your troubles. I would like to use the shape of doorways and portals as a starting point for my visual research. My starting point for this theme was Neil Gaiman's views on the importance of fiction and literacy in the development of empathy and life skills. I also want to illustrate all the theories that are key essay research, theories by Dr Hurd, Sana Hussain, Kazuo Ishiguro, Marcus Appel, Raymond Mar, Steven pinker and Paul Bloom.