So, you’re reading a book—a narrative—and, just as when you watch a movie or see a play, you hope to feel something. We expect good art to drive us to some catharsis. I see it as a given that we read in order to feel, to relate to a character or an experience and grow a little, or a lot, in the process. But I also expect that a book (or a movie, or a play) can broaden my understanding by opening my mind up to experiences and circumstances I haven’t had or been subjected to; that a good character is relatable on the most human levels despite having a life far removed from my own.
This is pathos. The story, the character, appeals to the reader’s emotions, evoking pity and compassion where there might have been little, if any.
So, this study performed by Ohio State University puzzles and intrigues me somewhat.
Students who read about a character who is in nearly their exact same situation had the strongest “experience-taking.” Reading about a student, my age, at my university, having an experience I am closely anticipating having. Perhaps it’s obvious that one should have the strongest relational experience with someone with whom they share the most similarities.
In the study, different students were given slightly different reading material (1st person v. 3rd person point of view, their alma mater v. a different school) concerning voting and the researchers observed the outcome. How many students voted after reading about this student who voted? The obvious occurred.
The point of the study is clear, direct, and literal. Can reading affect a person’s actions? In what situations can it have this effect? The answer being: when what your reading relates most directly to you. My concern is slightly off-base, but the oh so literal nature of this study bothers me. I would hope we could read about someone not exactly alike to us in every way and it might still have an effect on us.
The study is looking for a direct effect, one characterized outwardly in the form of an action. You read about voting and you vote. But there’s more to the effect that books can have on a reader than inspiring simple, direct actions. They can inspire compassion, and larger changes to our own character if the book is strong enough to move us deeply. Pathos.
I’m not sure if they can do a study about that.
Let books move you.
You New Beau.