Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reading For Peace? Literature As Activism – An Investigation Into New Literary Ethics And The Novel, Shady E. Cosgrove

Shady E Cosgrove

Literary ethicists like Dorothy J Hale and narratologists like James Phelan have argued that the reading process makes literary novels worthy of ethical investigation. That is, it’s not just a book’s content – which may debate norms and values – but the process of reading that inspires the reader to consider Other points of view. This alterity, new ethicists argue, can lead to increased empathy and thus more thoughtful decision-making within the ‘actual’ world. In fact, Hale (2007: 189) says empathetic literary training is a ‘pre-condition for positive social change’. This may work well theoretically, but what practical issues does …