Essay Week 9: The Shaping Force of Narrative

Having progressed this far into the semester, I have started to reflect on the purpose of storytelling. How did storytelling evolve to take root in culture? What do stories provide to those that hear them? What about those who tell the stories?

A year ago, I took my honors colloquium, Literature and Medicine, and the central question of the course was this: What can literature learn from medicine, and what can medicine learn from literature? We explored how narrative genre can frame the stories that patients bring with them into the examination room. We discussed the role of empathy and how abduction, a type of hypothesis-forming logic, fuels what doctors do on a daily basis.

The cover of one of the books written by my professors for Literature and Medicine. Image found at Project MUSE.

I bring this up because I believe storytelling has a way of molding both the people who hear tales and those who recount them, and if that is the case, then storytelling fulfills a cultural function. Research done by scientists at Emory University found that reading fiction changes the physical structure of the brain. As the lead author stated, narrative has a way of putting someone in the protagonist's shoes. Another study by David Kidd and Emanuele Castano found that literary fiction predisposes people to develop a stronger theory of mind and subsequently improve their ability to empathize with others.

Such findings imply that the stories we absorb have a way of shaping the way we think and the way we view the experience of other people. Perhaps reading is the portal that allows us to delve into experiences we might never come to know. I can attest to the fact that I now try to see what I can learn from the fiction I read. I tend to ask myself: How can I apply what I've read to my ability to better relate to others? What does this tell me about the human experience? When I view reading in that way, it gives the time I spend delving into stories more purpose.