Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Where Fact Stops and Fiction Begins
Whenever I read a work of fiction, I analyze what it is commenting on about society, people or culture. Strangely enough, fiction is not supposed to have anything to do with reality. But, while in English classes, I read in between the fictitious lines struggling to connect to the world. So, does that mean that fiction is commentary on fact? Virginia Woolf brings up a strong point when identifying that "fiction must stick to facts, and the truer the facts the better the fiction" (16). Perhaps, the title of "a work of fiction" is a cover that allows the author to write their beliefs and views on facts or reality while escaping any condemnation on their theories. I know, when I write, I take my experiences and twist them into my characters, commenting on social norms and folkways. I suppose the purpose of fiction is to give us that protection--allowing us the freedom to critique the world we live in without having to worry about any penalties or judgment on our viewpoints of the world.
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I completely agree with this idea of "fiction!" What is fiction anyways? As you said, I feel that many authors insert their personal experience into the lives of their characters. Virginia Woolf seems to do this through this "I" or "Mary" character. Anyways, I like how you picked up on this concept.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion. Another question we could ask is what is a fact? Because, if as Woolf suggests, fiction is about facts, clearly she's working under a different definition of what is "factual" or "real." If something never happened, does that mean it isn't a fact??
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your ideas on the importance of truth found in fiction. Although we are taught that fiction is not based on truth, we must analyze what kind of truth we are referring to. We are often conditioned to associate facts with truth, but this is not the only form of truth out there. We tend to overlook the truths that underly the characters in many works of fiction. Many characters give us insight into truths regarding certain life lessons, such as moral truths, etc. In fiction, we are able to pull out the truths that mean the most to us when we relate to the characters or situations being presented.
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