Imagination

Did these accounts help give “shape and focus” to reality more so than newsreels alone could? If so, will these works hold more “lasting significance” than bare factual accounts of the-same persons and events? I think anyone who has seen these films would answer all three questions affirmatively. Or consider The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. Both films, and the novels from which they were adapted, are ‘pure fantasy. (more…)

Several examples from literature serve to illustrate this point. Twain’s novels afford us a sense of how nineteenth-century Missouri would have appeared through the eves of 10-year-old boys. Melville’s Bilit’ Budd gives the reader certain insights into what travel on the high seas might have been like in earlier centuries, through the eves of a crewman. (more…)

Do imaginative works hold more lasting significance than factual accounts, for the reasons the speaker cites? To some extent, the speaker overstates fiction’s comparative significance. On balance, however, tend to agree with the speaker.

By recounting various dimensions of the human experience,  fictional work can add meaning to and appreciation of the times in which the work is set. Even where a fictional work amounts to pure fantasy, with no historical context. it can still hold more lasting significance than a factual account. Examples from literature and film serve to illustrate these points. (more…)