DOES WRITING FICTION MAKE WRITERS MORE EMPATHETIC?
With respect to literature and empathy, the narrator in Sigrid Nunez's novel, The Friend, writes: "If reading really does increase empathy, as we are constantly being told that it does, it appears that writing also takes some away" (as quoted in The New York Times, 12/14/2018 on C15).The context for this remark is a memorial for a novelist where the other writers came not to memorialize their fellow writer but instead to network and gossip about literary prizes and to dissect a review of an author they dislike. Many writers have been written about as difficult people to be around: Saul Bellow and Phillip Roth come to mind. So Nunez might have a point!
With respect to literature and empathy, the narrator in Sigrid Nunez's novel, The Friend, writes: "If reading really does increase empathy, as we are constantly being told that it does, it appears that writing also takes some away" (as quoted in The New York Times, 12/14/2018 on C15).The context for this remark is a memorial for a novelist where the other writers came not to memorialize their fellow writer but instead to network and gossip about literary prizes and to dissect a review of an author they dislike. Many writers have been written about as difficult people to be around: Saul Bellow and Phillip Roth come to mind. So Nunez might have a point!
QUESTIONS READERS HAVE SENT ME, AND MY RESPONSES
On Nature-Nurture
Q: When children grow up in a family of artists, does this predispose them to become artists?
A: It is certainly true that growing up in a family of artists is likely to predispose a child to become an artist -- whether because of genes, environment, or both. And this is true of any profession. I grew up in an academic family and vowed I would never become an academic, but in the end it got me! And families can make connections for their children If their children choose to go into areas the parents are connected to.
On the Brain
Q: Could there be differences in brain activity when Chinese characters are written for utilitarian purposes vs. for artistic expression?
A: The idea of studying whether using the pictographic system for utilitarian vs. aesthetic reasons activates different areas of the brain is a wonderful idea. If I were a neuroscientist I would want to study this!
On Craft vs. Art
Q: Can tools with a utilitarian function be works of art? There are tools that have been handcrafted that are very beautiful.
A: About utilitarian objects of great beauty -- I don't draw a distinction between art and craft because any object can be responded to aesthetically or looked right through it to its functional purpose.
On 3-D Reproductions
Q: Has the Van Gogh Museum examined how people have reacted to their 3-D prints of original Van Gogh paintings?
A: I have not found any information from the Van Gogh museum on how people have responded to their 3D prints. This would be very interesting to look into.
On Drawing and Mood
Q: On the subject of drawing to vent vs. escape, one reader wrote to me that the art created by children at the Terezin concentration camp typically express positive emotions.
A: I have looked at these images and I agree – they are often positive or at least neutral, which is consistent with our findings that drawing to distract serves as a more effective immediate mood elevator than drawing to vent. In Julian Schnabel’s new Van Gogh movie, “At Eternity's Gate,” the character who plays Van Gogh says: "I paint in order to forget myself." This is the same idea.
On Emotions in the Art Museum
Q: Would people would spend more time immersing themselves in art works if they could sit down in front of each work of art. Perhaps small spaces with benches (like in the Rothko Chapel in Houston) are most conducive to emotional experiences from visual art.
A: I agree that having works in a small room, with benches, allowing you to feel surrounded by the art, would likely get people to stay longer. I was just at the Delacroix show at the Met, and I would have liked to have a bench in front of every painting. I gave up trying to study them all and decided to focus on just a few and look at each for a long time. It's amazing how much you start to notice if you look for a long time.
On Nature-Nurture
Q: When children grow up in a family of artists, does this predispose them to become artists?
A: It is certainly true that growing up in a family of artists is likely to predispose a child to become an artist -- whether because of genes, environment, or both. And this is true of any profession. I grew up in an academic family and vowed I would never become an academic, but in the end it got me! And families can make connections for their children If their children choose to go into areas the parents are connected to.
On the Brain
Q: Could there be differences in brain activity when Chinese characters are written for utilitarian purposes vs. for artistic expression?
A: The idea of studying whether using the pictographic system for utilitarian vs. aesthetic reasons activates different areas of the brain is a wonderful idea. If I were a neuroscientist I would want to study this!
On Craft vs. Art
Q: Can tools with a utilitarian function be works of art? There are tools that have been handcrafted that are very beautiful.
A: About utilitarian objects of great beauty -- I don't draw a distinction between art and craft because any object can be responded to aesthetically or looked right through it to its functional purpose.
On 3-D Reproductions
Q: Has the Van Gogh Museum examined how people have reacted to their 3-D prints of original Van Gogh paintings?
A: I have not found any information from the Van Gogh museum on how people have responded to their 3D prints. This would be very interesting to look into.
On Drawing and Mood
Q: On the subject of drawing to vent vs. escape, one reader wrote to me that the art created by children at the Terezin concentration camp typically express positive emotions.
A: I have looked at these images and I agree – they are often positive or at least neutral, which is consistent with our findings that drawing to distract serves as a more effective immediate mood elevator than drawing to vent. In Julian Schnabel’s new Van Gogh movie, “At Eternity's Gate,” the character who plays Van Gogh says: "I paint in order to forget myself." This is the same idea.
On Emotions in the Art Museum
Q: Would people would spend more time immersing themselves in art works if they could sit down in front of each work of art. Perhaps small spaces with benches (like in the Rothko Chapel in Houston) are most conducive to emotional experiences from visual art.
A: I agree that having works in a small room, with benches, allowing you to feel surrounded by the art, would likely get people to stay longer. I was just at the Delacroix show at the Met, and I would have liked to have a bench in front of every painting. I gave up trying to study them all and decided to focus on just a few and look at each for a long time. It's amazing how much you start to notice if you look for a long time.