The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we feel shape our emotional and ethical reality, which of course is the great psychological function of literature and the reason why art can function as a form of therapy.
Why Evangelical Films Fail, by Peter J. Leithart
Evangelicalism is a word religion. I’m a big fan of words, but even talking pictures aren’t fundamentally about words. Evangelical films over-explain, over-talk. They don’t trust the images to do the work.
Neil Gaiman on How Stories Last, by Maria Popova
Do stories grow? Pretty obviously — anybody who has ever heard a joke being passed on from one person to another knows that they can grow, they can change. Can stories reproduce? Well, yes.
The ‘Story Behind the Story’: Making Lit Matter, by Erick Sierra
As American society increasingly questions the importance of what we in the humanities do, in the classroom I’ve been able to depend less and less on the grand narratives that long ago motivated my own passion for literature and instead imagined an importance for literature—a story behind the story—sourced not in grand abstract metanarratives, but in what students themselves find viscerally and deeply important.
The Future of StoryTelling: Wisdom in the Age of Information, by Maria Popova
A great storyteller — whether a journalist or editor or filmmaker or curator or professor or pastor — helps people figure out not only what matters in the world, but also why it matters.
Why has the Imagination been Sidelined in Literature? by Damien G. Walter
Einstein once famously proclaimed that “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Yet we find ourselves at the position today where any non STEM subject has seen a de facto obliteration of its status and funding. That’s not a criticism of STEM subjects or their creative potential, but as Einstein was trying to tell us, those subjects are at their strongest when honed by a powerful imagination.
Empathy, Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc, by Paul J. Zak
Why do our palms sweat as we watch James Bond fight for his life? Paul Zak’s research is uncovering how stories shape our brains, tie strangers together, and move us to be more empathic, generous and connected. Part 1.
What’s the Story with “Story?” by James K. A. Smith, PhD
Human attraction to story points to the unique formative power of narrative. Yet, we need to sort out the different sorts of claims that are made about and for “story” in these discussions.