Empathy and the Novel

by Suzanne Keen

Does empathy felt while reading fiction actually cultivate a sense of connection, leading to altruistic actions on behalf of real others? Empathy and the Novel presents a comprehensive account of the relationships among novel reading, empathy, and altruism. Drawing on psychology, narrative theory, neuroscience, literary history, philosophy, and recent scholarship in discourse processing, Keen brings together resources and challenges for the literary study of empathy and the psychological study of fiction reading. Empathy robustly enters into affective responses to fiction, yet its role in shaping the behavior of emotional readers has been debated for three centuries. Keen surveys these debates and illustrates the techniques that invite empathetic response. She argues that the perception of fictiveness increases the likelihood of readers' empathy in part by releasing them from the guarded responses necessitated by the demands of real others. Narrative empathy is a strategy and
subject of contemporary novelists from around the world, writers who tacitly endorse the potential universality of human emotions when they call upon their readers' empathy. If narrative empathy is to be taken seriously, Keen suggests, then women's reading and responses to popular fiction occupy a central position in literary inquiry, and cognitive literary studies should extend its range beyond canonical novels. In short, Keen's study extends the playing field for literature practitioners, causing it to resemble more closely that wide open landscape inhabited by readers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Academic, Psychology, Research, Literary Criticism, Theory, 21st Century

274 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 2007

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We often assume that reading, especially reading with empathy, is good for both the reader and our society. In Empathy and the Novel, Suzanne Keen questions this assumption.

When psychologists discuss empathy, they tend to point to "cognitive role taking," in which we imagine what it would be like to be somebody else. When we experience empathy, we often seem to feel something -- Keen suggests that we "feel what we believe to be the emotions of others." So, this empathetic experience involves imagination, emotion, and cognition. Also, I found it quite interesting to learn that the word 'empathy' was originally coined to describe the aesthetic moment, or rather, the unity felt between the artwork and the audience.

Let's get practical: all this feeling is good for society. Right? Keen points out that many readers and advocates of reading, and she relies on an analysis of Oprah and her book club to make this argument, call upon readers to empathize with others. No matter how different those "others" may be, we can empathize with them and make the world a better place. I'll admit that I was surprised to learn that there are detractors to this position.

Recent analysts, particularly those writing from a post-colonial or feminist perspective, point out that empathy is quite reductive. In feeling what we believe to be the feelings of others, aren't we just overriding the others' feelings with our own? Empathy erases the subject's personality. And then we praise ourselves for it.

Others argue that the danger of empathy while reading is that it allows us to feel like we've done something, when all we've actually done is imagined what it would be like to feel an emotion. Keen relies on a number of studies to make the point that altruism caused by empathic reading experiences is the exception, not the norm. She points out that the most common perspective that readers have after empathizing with a novel that outlines great difficulty is "it made me feel thankful for what I have." Others have argued that many find it easier to empathize with fictional characters than they do with people because that fictitious empathy carries no responsibilities. A similar point, I think, has been made by Yann Martel when he discusses his use of animals to generate an emotional response in his readers. People are reluctant to empathize with other people.

And, of course, don't the vast majority of readers, the "low brows," simply read for pleasure?

Reading alone may not change the world, but I have read reports that do show that reading with empathy can be personally transforming, especially if readers discuss what they read rather than just closing their book and putting it back on the shelf. However, I do agree with Keen's suggestion that we potentially ruin stories by requiring them to solve the world's problems. After all, there's nothing wrong with "low brow" reading.

I found Empathy and the Novel fascinating throughout and carefully argued. In addition to what I've attempted to summarize here, I'll share that I particularly enjoyed Keen's history of the novel and its transformation from a morally bankrupt form to one whose duty is to save the earth. Recommended.

[Myada Elmasry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good, rich of refrences and book's reviews ..

[Giovanni Attanasio]

Primo nella mia classifica "teoria letteraria e scrittura" nel 2023.

Articolo intero sul blog: https://attanasioscrive.it/articoli/c...

[Kathrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly four stars because it is exactly the book I needed for my research, so I spent most of my reading exclaiming "Yes! Yes! Yes!" But there are some obstacles that would bother me more if I didn't need her so much -- Her proposals describing a definition of narrative empathy: helpful, but not conclusive. I am both interested and terrified about using her proposals towards a deconstruction of Megan Sweeney's book group discussions in female prisons.
All of Keen's case studies of author-manipulated empathy come from novels I've so far avoided. Will need to investigate Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost, Flora Nwapa's Efuru.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my earliest favorite scholarly books--Keen deconstructs the "empathy thesis" that is at the heart of the humanities. Do books really make us better at feeling for others? Keen tries to treat this as an open question, taking a quasi-scientific "cognitive" approach. Although later experience has made me more wary of her methodology than I initially was, I'm still enthralled by her ideas upon rereading.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot, very informative and fun too which is hard to do at once.

[Ingeborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and intriguing read! Can reading improve our empathy? Do emphatic people simply read more? Can empathy have bad effects? Does identification with the characters in the novel, and the fact that one feels empathy with them, has any effects on empathy or even altruism in real life? I will certainly come back to it... The downside is that it is tooo long and the author often repeats herself.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was another skimmer--intro, another theoretical chapter, and the rest I didn't really need. Which is ok. Keen--have met her, but not enough to call her Suzanne, though I did hear her joking with a friend that she swims nude--is an accessible writer, and her idea is pretty valid, I think, but I just don't plan to cite this much, so I didn't read it super closely.

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good aggregation of a lot of scientific studies of empathy, and a worthwhile note that empathy can have negative results. On the whole, though, the book often seemed directionless, and I didn't get a good sense of the author's overall argument or thrust.

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting things I gleaned from this book but mostly it reminded me of how pedantic and long-winded academic-types can be on most any subject imaginable.

[Tom Calvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A careful critical and evidence-based survey of relationships between novels and empathy.

I liked the focused series of chapters dealing with contemporary interdisciplinary views on empathy, the marketplace for different kinds of empathic novel, author empathy, reader empathy, and contested views of empathy. I also liked reading about book groups and online reviews of various novels that elicited different sorts of reactions across cultures and individuals.

Keen urges caution about how/whether reading novels has straightforward moral and political benefits. The evidence is encouraging but far from robust. To Keen's credit she also develops and collects a set of more testable hypotheses on narrative empathy and novels, making the book something of a 'theory' in its own right, even if it does fizzle out a little into a 'more research is needed' type of deal.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are working on scholarship on empathy and the novel (which I am) this is essential reading. I really like how Keen came at this topic from so many different angles. It's not really a thesis-driven monograph but a very helpful survey of topics and approaches. If this is your area of scholarly interest, this is the book for you.

[Maëlys]

Interested to dip my toe into this one seeing how the popular assumption that reading makes us better, more empathetic people seem to not really hold water when you see what book spheres have to say about real people.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far so good. I'll have a full book report done soon (as I am assigned to write one).

[Peter Makai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Showed to me the dark side of empathy and the reason for some critics' and authors' objection to empathy as a means to knowing.

[Mª Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very useful!