I’ve always been an emotional, sensitive person; my mom once said that no one would care as much as I did. I’m almost totally sure this is why I feel literature or any piece of writing so deeply. Even if it doesn’t directly relate to me or any category that I fit into, I know that the person who does relate–if it’s written well–will be affected in a positive way and that meant something to me. Poetry and fiction were made to be emotional even if it’s not directly the story’s tone. The novel may not be sad by the author’s choice, but when we read we connect with characters we may have never met in real life or never could have related to in passing. One of the books that first inspired this in me is Sharon M. Draper’s novel “Out of My Mind.” This was one of the only books I have read multiple times, I’m not a big fan of rereading my books, but I couldn’t help but I love that book; even if it made me cry, I wanted to be the main character again and feel her stress and eventual triumph.
To me, English, writing, and any form of words have always been about emotion and being able to be empathetic. I felt sad for every character, every author, every imaginary person that’s reading it in the past, present, or future. Like Jasmine Guillory in her article “Don’t Underestimate the Power of Black Fiction” I felt very deeply what the characters were feeling. I’ll find something in every character that’s similar to me or take something from each character and I take a piece of the story with me. Maybe it’s odd for me to say I find something like myself in every character I read, but honestly, as someone who wants to create things—create films, novels, something tangible—I want everyone to find a book that they see themselves in. I think that the whole point of reading is finding those shared experiences or discovering your feelings along with the character. And I think that’s part of why I also want to write is because I want to be able to experience so many things that I feel like the way to do that is through reading and literature, it’s not just going places within a book, you get to experience so many people’s lives. I want to be them and take a little bit with me too.
A lot of what we read this past week stuck with me because it talked so much about the emotions surrounding the English language and literature. Former US poet laureate Tracy Smith spoke in her opinion piece in the New York Times titled “Wipe that Smirk Off Your Poem” about how now poetry authors have the tendency to steer towards irony almost as if they’re afraid of being made fun of for being too emotional or too cheesy in their work. In turn, I think that has turned a lot of people off to poetry. One quote from Smith stood out to me in her piece, “Irony refuses to be life-giving or world-creating. Irony negates wish.” I think as a society we have become so steeped in irony that a large portion of people have decided to stay away from any sort of emotion as a sort of protection. If we aren’t vulnerable we cannot be hurt, but isn’t being empathetic and vulnerable part of what it means to be human. In a larger conversation on another day, this is why the issue of artificial intelligence concerns me. With the development and improvement of AI it makes me wonder if we will ever be able to return to openly being emotional, without shame or worry for compassion. I firmly believe that as humans we were made to create stories to deal with our emotions and share our experiences, none of which artificial intelligence could replicate. The act of reading fiction or poetry was created with the purpose of empathy and I was made to care.
works cited
Agarwal, Pragya. “Emotional Ai Is No Substitute for Empathy.” Wired, Conde Nast, 31 Dec. 2022, www.wired.com/story/artificial-intelligence-empathy/.
Guillory, Jasmine. “Jasmine Guillory on the Importance of Reading Black Fiction.” Time, Time, 30 June 2020, time.com/5861861/jasmine-guillory-black-fiction/.
Smith, Tracy K. “Does Poetry Matter?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2015, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/18/does-poetry-matter/wipe-that-smirk-off-your-poem.
Hey Lily, your post was great! I don’t like rereading books either, even my favorite ones I have only reread once or twice. I found your connection to literature admiring and relate to it greatly. I thought you made a great statement about AI and the harm it poses to literature as a whole.
Hi Lily, this is a really interesting post. I really like that you went a bit past the readings and talked about AI.
It’s also cool how in tune you are with your emotions and the emotions in literature. I’ve never really been that way until recently. Maybe it’s because I haven’t ever really seen too much literature or media that I’ve identified myself with until college. It’s super cool that you want to create yourself, and I hope it really goes great for you.
I think you’re right about irony, but I also feel like I’ve seen the opposite — people being TOO emotional, in an almost forced way — like have you read the fruit poetry? It was really great in the beginning but now everyone’s doing it and it’s Rupi Kaur-esque common.
I really loved your post. I, too, was always told how emotional I was ever since I was little, and I find myself getting more and more used to it as I get older. Almost honoring it better instead of trying to hide it. I agree with you that I can pretty much find an emotional connection to most things without directly connecting myself to a story or a certain situation. I just find the very act of being a human being as something to be emotional about; that we both are here experiencing the world with our own thoughts and our own lives, going through our own stuff. It is all so utterly beautiful to me and beautifully sad in a way too. I, too, think that reading and writing are so important in cultivating connection and empathy.
You focus a lot on emotion, empathy, and the ability of fiction (you emphasize character, which makes me think you mean fiction rather than poetry) to help us connect with others, Lilly. Our readings addressed that in a number of ways. In the end, you say, “With the development and improvement of AI it makes me wonder if we will ever be able to return to openly being emotional, without shame or worry for compassion..” I really want to know what you mean here, but I’m not totaly certain, yet. Your linked article gives some idea, but I’d really like to hear more from you on that connection.