����Ӱ��

The next event of Inimkond series is a lecture by Massimo Salgaro from the University of Verona, which takes place on 4 May at 18:15 in room A-325.

Literary Empathy and Morality in Empirical Aesthetics

The intersection between literature, empathy and ethics has long since been a commonplace in literary theory. Scholars from Aristotle to Martha Nussbaum (1997) claim that literature enhances moral and prosocial attitudes. Recent experiments (e.g. Hakemulder 2000, Mar & al. 2006, Kidd & Castano 2013, Johnson 2011/2013, Stansfield/Bunce 2014) seem to confirm this assumption, and our educational system is widely based on it. Importantly, the respective studies focused only on a part of the phenomenon of literary reading and empathy. There are at least three aspects that should additionally be taken into consideration: Many literary texts do not demand an empathic reaction, such as very formalistic poetry (for example Konkrete Dichtung in the German tradition) or certain types of theater plays demanding an “estrangement effect”. The history of literature also offers many examples of amoral protagonists in novels and dramas with whom readers are clearly invited to empathize (the problem of empathy with anti-social and even criminal behavior).

Furthermore, there are also examples of literature and media consumption where the enjoyment derives from the absence or even suppression of empathic reactions, e.g. horror films, action movies. The presentation will challenge the bias in literary studies towards understanding empathy exclusively in terms of promoting prosocial responses presenting the data of a study on empathy with amoral fictional figures carried out at Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics.

This event is organised in cooperation with Tallinn University School of Humanities Anthropology department and German Studies.