Wednesday, March 23, 2011

In defence of fiction

A Good Book by Wybrand Hendriks

"It is untrue that fiction is nonutilitarian. The uses of fiction are synonymous with the uses of literature. They include refreshment, clarification of life, self-awareness, expansion of our range of experiences, and enlargement of our sense of understanding and discovery, perception, intensification, expression, beauty , and understanding. Like literature generally, fiction is a form of discovery, perception, intensification, expression, beauty, and understanding. If it is all these things, the question of whether it is a legitimate use of time should not even arise."

-Leland Ryken (Realms of Gold: The Classics in Christian Perspective)

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What more is there to say, except "Amen to that!"

5 comments:

Emily said...

Hear, hear!!

Miss Jordan Elizabeth said...

Wonderful! And said much more eloquently than I could ever express.

~Jordan

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Elise!

Alex Binz said...

I entirely agree. I've read a number of books (ironically by philosophers) that argue that we think not in terms of sentences or abstract 'propositions' but in terms of images and metaphors. In this way, fiction exercises both our imagination and our minds, and in some cases can actually be more beneficial than non-fiction.

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

"Literature is a luxury. Fiction is a necessity."

-- G.K. Chesterton