In What Ways Does Fiction Relate to Reality - Coursework Example

In What Ways Does Fiction Relate to Reality? Introduction The definition of fiction can be as simpleor complex as one could wish to make it. While we know that stories about titans, giants and dragons can safely be considered fiction, we also know that legends are often based on facts. The stories of King Arthur and his knights of the round table is one such example where historical fact was distorted to an extent that the fiction is more popular than the facts of history. A similar example can be given for fictional characters like Robin Hood, who have been a part of popular fiction for centuries but are also a part of historical fact in the shape of bandits who steal from the rich and give a portion of it to the poor. The historical bandits are not as famous as the character of Robin Hood, but there mere existence shows that fiction has a clear connection to reality which can be seen in many shapes and forms. In modern terms, a narrative fictional architecture can be as simple as a children’s story, a television show or a movie. On the other hand it can take place over a span of years like a soap opera or be an extremely interactive experience like a modern videogame that immerses its user in a fictional narrative by actually making them a part of the story. While it is difficult to classify such materials as texts, they can certainly be classified as fiction since the events that take place in a video game depend largely upon the actions of the player and the guidelines given by those who make the software. Hopkins (2001) has an interesting insight into the reading of texts which are considered as modern classic literature and he suggests that people can often be very confused when they read something and try to derive meaning out of the text. While literature is fundamentally an art form, modern fiction often takes the shape of an abstract painting where colours and shapes have intrinsic meanings which are open for interpretation. Similarly, the words used by a writer hold one meaning for him/herself and could mean something totally different for the readers of the text. Fiction and Reality While literature could be based on factual events and perhaps even present factual events as they happen there is an important distinction between the presentation of facts as in journalistic writing and reporting and the creation of fictional literature. Hvid (2005) gives the best and simplest method of differentiating the two when he says that journalistic writing has to be nothing but the truth while writers of literature are permitted to bend the truth or present outright lies. Clearly the level of interaction between writers of fact and the writers of fiction suggests that they have an influence on each other. The distinction between fact and fiction is not the presentation of the material but rather the content of the material. Certainly there are websites, news programs and columns that fictionalize news and present it in a mostly humorous manner which is often not considered to be serious journalism nor is it taken as serious fiction. However, such players on the field blur the line between fact and fiction significantly. Reporting Facts and Creating Fiction Newspapers like the New York Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Toronto star are all famous examples of how some of the best fiction writers started their careers by working for them. Hvid (2005) suggests that the writers who produce literature accept the fact that journalism is the reporting of reality and it has to respect the truth whatever it may be. The journalist presents facts which can be verified by others and represents circumstances which can be effectively judged by others who are aware of the situation. The fiction writer can base events in reality but does not have to give any sources for his/her material and does not need to present any verification. This is the exact reason why fiction requires creativity as the first impulse of writing since the writer has to create something out of their sphere of experience. In some cases, like science fiction or fantasy writers, the writer may have to create an entire world with its own laws of physics, language and culture without having any real frame of reference to the real world. The novels of Tolkien and the creation of the Star Wars saga are two prime examples of that since the ideas, images and characters presented in those stories have little connection to the reality we live in. The principles of reporting factual events demand a certain level of ethics which is seldom seen anywhere else in the creative world. Consider the example of the public relations or the advertising industry where ethics might take a back seat when compared to profits. A fact writer can not add or subtract material events from the story that is being given to the public. Different scenes can not be made a single continual event, the actions of the characters can not be given a judgement and the timings of those actions have to be told in the order they occurred. Most importantly, fact writing demands that a writer must dot his/her utmost to give an honest account of what really happened. Not passing a judgement is something which is coming into fashion in modern literature as well since modern novels, poems or other writings seldom contain a fixed moral viewpoint for the reader. While the reader may be able to understand individual events, scenes and even the motivations of the characters, a moral from the story is often hard to get (Hopkins, 2001). The meaning of the text, the expression of the writer and reason for the presentation of the material may not be clarified by the writer and have to be understood in the historical, literary or the material context. Understanding Fact and Fiction Hopkins (2001) continually recommends being careful while reading any work of literature since multiple interpretations are both good and bad. Good because they increase the literary value of the work and bad because they might make the work too difficult to understand. This is one similarity between fact and fiction since even events like terrorism can be seen in different lights and personalities may be considered rebels by one group of reporters and as heroes by another group of reporters. This certainly runs counter to the expectation that reality will be reported and seen for what it is rather than have an ambiguous moral dimension. Moral ambiguity is certainly acceptable in fiction writing but the interpretation of factual events also gives them a moral dimension which can further escalate the conflict. Consider the example of the terrorist attacks of 9th September, while the events were clearly immoral and unjustified, there were those who said that the attacks were perfectly justified and America deserved what she got. Obviously, one side is right and the other is wrong but both consider the other to be behaving without morals or ethics. Writing in fact or fiction both have to cater to the audience which it is targeted towards. A children’s book would have a very different way of being written when it is compared to a book written for adults. Similarly, the markets for writers of factual events and the writers of fictional happenings are two different segments. The readers of literature know that they will have to interpret the words of the writer to understand the meaning of the message being given to them. They also know that the events being reported are factual, based on facts or completely fictionalized (Hvid, 2005). While this takes away some of the urgency in the words it certainly clarifies the position of the writer as it relates to the text. The reporting of reality takes a different path since good journalistic writing does not present the reader with moral dilemmas. It does and should make the writer think about the event being report and allow them to relate to the event as it happened but they should not be forced to get their own meaning out of the words as they can be in fiction related books. The journalist knows the meaning of the reality s/he is presenting to the people and that reality must be provided without the need for interpretations. Our Relevance to Fact and Fiction Reality forces us to be relevant to the topic and relevant to the times which are being related to us by the writer. A newspaper reporter can not hope to gain an audience if they report about events which happened hundreds of years ago and even yesterday’s news may not be relevant. The readers expect to be told about events as they are occurring and considering the advent of the internet and modern methods of accessing information, reality is not limited to what we can experience on our own but reality can be taking place thousands of miles away (Hvid, 2005). A major sporting event taking place in London can be as real for a person watching it from Germany as it would be for a person watching it in New York or Tokyo. Fiction on the other hand, can take place without relevance to time and place and the reader has to find their own relevance to the characters or the events being depicted. Stories of life and death in outer space of completely unreal characters clearly has little relevance in absolute terms to the person reading them but the reader can enjoy and appreciate the literature if s/he is able to find his/her own relevance and be emphatic about the characters. Since they both make a reader think about the events, both can be used as learning devices. The Usefulness of Fiction The clearest example of fiction relating to reality and being used as a learning device is the example presented in the bible where Jesus Christ used stories to teach his disciples about the moral values which Christianity is founded upon. This was the use of fiction not for entertainment value alone but as a tool which shows that we can learn even from fictional accounts that come from the imagination of an individual but have relevance and truth within them. In absolute terms, fiction is not real but the creative element required to create fictional accounts is very much a part of reality. Fiction allows us to experience reality in a different sense by taking it away from our own world and placing us in a world where the characters develop and change as they are controlled by the pen of the writer. Fiction is inherently as important as reality because reality has the disadvantage of being one while fiction can create an unlimited number of realities based up the interpretations of the individuals reading them. The Reality of Fiction Very recently, there was a high profile and much discussed case of several cartoonists who depicted humorous pictures of the prophet Muhammad which were published in several periodicals around the world. Clearly those were fictional depictions of the prophet but they created a controversy which became a political and social problem for many countries of the world (Toldjah, 2006). Protests and marches in many Islamic countries caused clashes between law enforcement agencies and the protestors which even caused a few deaths. From a humorous look at the image of the Muslims, we got some very real images of Muslims protesting around the world over cartoon characters which were completely fictional. This is a perfect example of how fictions can become realities very quickly if the creators of the fictional material are not careful with how they present their ideas. From the protests and the demonstrations it seems clear that the Muslims were hurt by the images but it does not clarify why they resorted to violence against the publishers. A well appreciated and beloved cartoon character around the world is the character of Homer Simpson. While it is clearly a fictional character, the writers of the cartoon have made him something of a cult philosopher with his acute observations about the world, the human condition, the state of the American middle class and his relationship with religion. Baggini (2006) is himself a philosopher writing for the BBC and considers the Simpsons to be a very accurate representation of modern suburban philosophy and considers them more relevant to us than the teachings of real philosophers like Plato or Aristotle who wrote their works centuries ago. This again highlights the point of relevance, since fact or fiction need to be relevant to the individual they are being passed to without which there would be little interest or motivation for the person to participate. An enthusiastic student of literature could feel very out of place in a lecture about atomic physics while a child could feel confused and bored if attending a lecture on classical economics. Fact and fiction have to appeal to the individual to be interesting and without interest; both can lose their value which would make both the creation of the text or reading it a futile exercise. To maintain interest and to create value for the reader is required in both fact and fiction. Conclusion The relationship between reality and fiction is often a complex one and it is difficult if not impossible to draw a line between the two. The point is made quite remarkably by Triggle (2004) who discusses apocalyptic films and science fiction ideas to show that what is thought of being impossible could be tomorrow’s reality for us. For a long time, flight was thought of being impossible and suitable only for the realm of fiction until the Wright brothers showed us that it could be done. Now millions of people have experienced the wonder of flight and many more are expected to experience the wonder of travelling through space in the coming years. Clearly, the idea of flight through space comes from the realm of fiction since realistically it has been a privilege given to a few people to visit space itself. However, as time goes by that privilege could be extended to the extent that space travel becomes a reality. Fiction allows us to imagine and to dream about things which are not present and things that could be made in the future. Scientific advances that are depicted in films concerning the future may not be here with us today but who can say what will be discovered, created, invented or imagined in the coming years. Fiction gives us that right to present our own vision of the future and it is immaterial if it is good or bad. Simply by being there it gives us hope and something to look forward to as a collective. Of course it still requires someone who is firmly placed in reality to accept the fiction and try to make it the truth. Works Cited Baggini, J. (2006). The Simpsons as philosophy. Retrieved July 8, 2006, from BBC.co.uk website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4995624.stm Hopkins, C. (2001) Thinking About Texts: An Introduction to English Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. Hvid, M. (2005). Fiction, facts and storytelling. Retrieved July 8, 2006, from CFJE.dk website: http://cfje.dk/cfje/VidBase.nsf/ID/CB00959449 Toldjah, S. (2006). Southpark and Mohammed - art imitating life. Retrieved July 7, 2006, from sistertoldjah.com website: http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2006/04/13/southpark-and-mohammed-art-imitating-life/ Triggle, N. (2004). Real life art imitating science. Retrieved July 8, 2006, from BBC.co.uk website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3745591.stm Word Count: 2,584 Read More