Does Fiction Foster Empathy?
‘My father was in prison for two years’.
‘For beating you and your mother?’.
‘No, for being a communist!’ laughed Leila (a young woman from Iran).
Leila’s father was a violent bully, but he also encouraged her to read. Diverging from school teachings on Hell, Leila became more secular. “Little Women” was her favourite book, she loved this supportive community of women. Her own reality was very different; seldom allowed to leave the house, she had very few friends. But fiction enabled Leila to envision another world. Keen to achieve those ideals, she migrated to Turkey (where we met).
In Mexico too, young women shared that reading stories had opened their minds, enabled them to see alternatives, and become more open-minded.
Television could have similar effects. Kurdish Dila excitedly escorted me to her ‘favourite Church’. ‘Do you have Christian friends?’ ‘Why not? I love Desperate Housewives!’.
This raises an important hypothesis:
Can fiction foster empathy?
By immersing ourselves in another person’s trials and tribulations, are we better able to recognise diverse perspectives and constraints?
Might reading fiction, viewing plays and watching television have helped Americans become culturally looser - more open-minded and tolerant?
