Burke, M., Kuzmičová, A., Mangen, A., & Schilhab, T. (2016): Empathy at the confluence of neuroscience and literary empirical studies (original) (raw)
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Scientific Study of Literature, 2016
The objective of this article is to review extant empirical studies of empathy in narrative reading in light of (i) contemporary literary theory, and (ii) neuroscientific studies of empathy, and to discuss how a closer interplay between neuroscience and literary studies may enhance our understanding of empathy in narrative reading. An introduction to some of the philosophical roots of empathy is followed by tracing its application in contemporary literary theory, in which scholars have pursued empathy with varying degrees of conceptual precision, often within the context of embodied/enactive cognition. The presentation of empirical literary studies of empathy is subsequently contextualized by an overview of psychological and neuroscientific aspects of empathy. Highlighting points of convergence and divergence, the discussion illustrates how findings of empirical literary studies align with recent neuroscientific research. The article concludes with some prospects for future empirical research, suggesting that digitization may contribute to advancing the scientific knowledge of empathy in narrative reading.
Empathy at the confluence of neuroscience and empirical literary studies
Scientific Study of Literature, 2016
The objective of this article is to review extant empirical studies of empathy in narrative reading in light of (a) contemporary literary theory, and (b) neuroscientific studies of empathy, and to discuss how a closer interplay between neuroscience and literary studies may enhance our understanding of empathy in narrative reading. An introduction to some of the philosophical roots of empathy is followed by tracing its application in contemporary literary theory, in which scholars have pursued empathy with varying degrees of conceptual precision, often within the context of embodied/enactive cognition. The presentation of empirical literary studies of empathy is subsequently contextualized by an overview of psychological and neuroscientific aspects of empathy. Highlighting points of convergence and divergence, the discussion illustrates how findings of empirical literary studies align with recent neuroscientific research. The article concludes with some prospects for future empirical...
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There is a long tradition in philosophy and literary theory defending the view that engagement with literature promotes readers' empathy. Until the last century, few of the empirical claims adduced in that tradition were investigated experimentally. Recent work in psychology and neuropsychology has now shed new light on the interplay of empathy and literature. This article surveys the experimental findings, addressing three central questions: What is it to read empathically? Does reading make us more empathic? What characteristics of literature, if any, affect readers' empathy? While experimental studies have delivered no conclusive answers to these questions, it has exposed their psychological complexity and constructed a more nuanced picture of the diverse ways in which literature interacts with our empathic capacities.
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The current study investigated whether the reflective reading of fiction can provide an experiential definition of empathy to supplement more traditional concept analyses. A secondary aim was to look at the rates of absorption (loss of time and space) relative to the rate of reported empathic engagement. Based on earlier studies on reading fiction as an engagement in a social simulation, it was predicted that because fiction is a controlled experience, reading and talking about fiction could provide a forum in which to examine actual experiences of empathy elicitation in relation to an evolving situation. A survey was conducted with 210 student participants over a three-year period. The results show that the empathetic response to narrative is affected in a variety of ways by the presence or absence of an initial sense of affinity and by cognitive input over time, that is, the changing perception of characters and the situations with which they are confronted. Adept readers are more...
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In this paper, drawing on Husserl, as well as on certain other phenomenologists such as Merleau-Ponty and Richir, I claim that the phenomenon of the apprehension of the perspectives and emotions of literary characters deserves to be called literary empathy. In order to support this claim, I'll firstly argue that empathy is principally an act of presentification closely related with perception, memory and imagination. Secondly, I'll argue that literary empathy with literary characters is an imaginative reproduction of the reader's bodily sedimentations under the instruction offered by the literary text. Thirdly, I'll argue that through literary empathy, a reader forms a peculiar intersubjective link with the literary character. The subjects in play are thus the real existential "I" and the imagined Other. Asymmetry of existence-positing and lack of interaction do not prevent the imagined characters from exerting an effective influence upon the reader and reconfiguring her actual life.
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Empathy, Fiction and Imagination
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The concept of empathy has been central to many recent debates in the humanities and neurosciences. Since the discovery of “mirror neurons” in the 1990s (e.g. Rizzolatti et al. 2006), there has been much discussion about the process, the outcome, and the function of empathy. For instance, there is still some controversy over whether empathy – broadly understood as the understanding of mental states (such as emotions, beliefs, and desires) of others – implies a kind of theoretical inference (Theory Theory), imaginative simulation (Simulation Theory), or direct perception (Direct Perception Approach) (for an overview, see Batson 2009; Coplan 2011; Stueber 2017). Whereas cognitivist approaches from the Theory of Mind – such as Theory Theory (Carruthers 1996) and especially Simulation Theory (Goldman 2006) – took prominence for a while, more recently attention has also been given to phenomenological accounts, which take the direct intersubjective encounter and the embeddedness of the self more seriously (Gallagher/Hutto 2008; Gallagher 2012; Zahavi 2001; Zahavi/Overgaard 2012). In drawing on historical phenomenologists like Max Scheler and Edith Stein, as well as current theories of embodiment, such phenomenological approaches to empathy argue that we have an unmediated and experiential access to the mental states, especially emotions, of other persons (Zahavi 2014). According to this view, we see immediately in the expressions of others what they experience. For this to happen, face-to-face and intersubjective interaction is necessary. However, this seems problematic in relation to fictions – such as narrative films or literature – for there is no real encounter, nor are any real persons involved. Rather, imagination and narrative frames seem necessary to become empathetically engaged with fiction and the emotional situations of the characters. This is why some authors, especially from film and literary studies, emphasize the imaginative impact of empathic processes (Carroll 1990; Currie 1995; Gaut 2010; Grodal 1997), or argue for an additional contextual, narrative approach (Gallagher 2012). But in order to better understand the mental states of fictional characters, we must use our capacity of imagination, broadly understood as the ability to represent entities which are not present or do not exist. But is imagining fictional worlds therefore an appropriate or sufficient basis for our experience with various forms of fiction – be it a text or a film? Surely, insofar as there is no real encounter, we have to fill in the gap via our imaginative capacity and comprehend the perspectives of characters by way of a particular form of perspective-taking (Goldie 1999). Of course, the question then arises as to what extent these aspects are interrelated and even compatible: direct perception, narrative comprehension, and imaginative perspective-taking. The issue contains a selection of invited contributions, including: Robert Blanchet, Fritz Breithaupt, Thiemo Breyer, Marco Caracciolo, Jens Eder, Shaun Gallagher, Suzanne Keen, Catrin Misselhorn, Jan Müller, Matthias Schloßberger, Thomas Szanto, Christiana Werner.
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It is easy enough to theorize about the impact of literary reading on empathic reactions, but to empirically prove such effects is more difficult. This article provides a concise overview of the theoretical and empirical evidence that literary reading has an effect on empathy (in its multiple forms), distinguishing between the effects of literariness, narrativity and fictionality. Subsequently, it discusses the results of two recently conducted studies into reading and empathic understanding. As will become clear, we are still quite a long way from knowing when and how (literary) reading has an effect on empathy for others. Suggestions are offered how future studies can tackle this issue.