ENGL 817AL - Field Notes: Why do we care (about fictional people)?

Empathy. 

The ability to feel emotion towards another person (or animal) is a defining characteristic of being human. The fact that we can feel emotion towards or about a fictional character in writing is a fascinating concept. Paskow and Hogan's articles on this aspect of literary study help define what readers are feeling, why they are feeling it, and what that means to the overall reading experience. 

But, it all started with Radford and Weston's "How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?"

"If you are at all humane, you are unlikely to be unmoved by what you read."

Readers care for their favourite literary characters; we get attached to them. And, when they die, it seems that we go through a specific kind of grief when they're gone. This grief is not the same as losing someone in reality because we know, that while the character is gone - dead - on the page, they are actually still alive in some part in the author's mind—but never to been seen(read) again.

This is part that fascinates me. The character is dead, yet the author could, if they desired, bring that character back in a short story; a prequel; a resurrection. But, often, the character was killed for certain reasons in story and plot (or in the cases of movies or television, because the actor wanted out or got fired). Readers - let's call us "fans" for this part - deal with this often by creating fanfiction, alternate timelines, or reason away the fate as something else. This is why coping with a fictional death is very different from a real death of someone in reality.

I began thinking about this concept of fictional grief a while before this part of this class came about because I have a friend who was trying to deal with this exact thing - a character in his favourite anime show died and he didn't know how to deal. Then these articles for my class were assigned and I feel like now, if he asked me for advice (because he knows what I am studying), I might be able to guide him a little in coping with the fictional loss.

This exact situation is why caring for fictional people is an ever evolving area of research in literature, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. It increases in intensity with the aspect of social media and the the rise in parasocial connections people are making with others online that they do not actually know (most commonly with influencers or celebrities). 

I think... I believe this is going to stick with me for quite a while.