Literary fiction lacks a universal definition and this work of art is best understood through its unique characteristics. According to Dukes, literary fiction refers to character driven stories with social and political themes with irreverence for storytelling standards (n.d). This genre does not follow any conventional structure or plot and it has embedded symbolism and allegory. Unlike factual literatures, literary fiction is characterized by ambiguous plots including the conclusion and the selection of vocabulary, including the title of the book, is infused with imagery. These stories explore historical and cultural trends with a touch of philosophical themes in regard to human way of life and nature in general. This term paper explores the importance of reading literary fiction by non-fiction readers because it has significant emotional and intellectual importance to the readers.
Some of the skills required by employers are difficult to quantify and define. They include creative problem solving, critical thinking, self discipline, empathy, kindness, rational judgement and adaptiveness. It is difficult to establish whether your future employees have these skills or not. In cases where these skills are lacking, it is the responsibility of the employers to find a means of training them. A neuroscience research revealed that literary fiction enables readers develop critical thinking, theory of mind and empathy. Such literature strengthens our cognitive abilities and traits that employers want to attract and retain (Seifert, 2020). Seifert further asserts that, reading literary fiction has more benefits than nonfiction since it sharpens social acuity and the ability to understand other people’s personalities and motivations. Literary fiction is therefore important in developing emotional intelligence (EQ).
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Literary fiction enhances our ability to make connections and creativity in joining pieces of infomations and making a deductive conclusions “When we read literary fiction story, our brain takes a journey with the character, which means we’re exercising our problem-solving skills. (Farr, 2017).Whenever you are reading a literary fiction story, the brain is always synthesizing all possibilities and filling in gaps of knowledge due to the connections you make while reading a fiction story. Nonfiction literature does not provide for critical thinking and making connections as you are required to get the facts as presented in the story. On the other hand, literary fiction stories triggers imagination and creativity by connecting the different possibilities that might play out in a story.
Literary fiction teaches on how to approach and overcome challenges and obstacles. In most instances,characters in these stories are faced with similar challenges that happen in real world. The can be political, social or environmental challenges similar to real world challenges. Therefore, just like the characters in the fiction stories, we learn to face and overcome obstacles with vigor and courage. The ability to devise new and effective approach to daily problems is a powerful tool in our daily living. Further, such skills are sought by employers because any business involves solving challenges critically and creatively. A research published by Annual Review of Psychology, that analyzed fMRI brain scans revealed that participants who had read about a particular experience , a problem solved in a literary fiction story, are stimulated within the same neuroloical regions when they find themselves in a similar experience (Seifert, 2020). The brain is triggered to think in a similar pattern expressed in the story.
Research shows that literary fiction enhances the ability of the brain to remain open to issues when processing information and thus promotes decision making.Managers with strong cognitive skills make informed decisions and are adaptible to changes when new informtion becomes available. Also, such managers delay cognitive closure because they are more crititcal, creative, thoughtful and have high EQ. In this regard, CEOs and other key decision makers should invest time, money and energy in reading literary fiction. Further, they should incorporate study of literary fiction in the workplace . This reading culture promotes creative thinking and empathetic critical thinking at the workplace.
“The Secret Sharer”, by Joseph Connrad describes the story of an inexperienced ship captain who is required to make a critical decision. The ship captain is stuck in Gulf of Siam awaiting waves to cool down and winds to pick so as he can sail to England. However, he feels disconnected from his crew which he has interacted with for only two weeks and had never sailed with them before (Conrad, 2008). At night, the captain offers to keep watch as the rest of the crew catch sleep, then notices another ship, Sephora from a distance. While enjoying the seclusion, the captain notices a headless corpse, then notices the head later floating.The captain alerts Laggat and a discussion of the possible happenings ensue. Leggatt was the murderer who fled the Sephora sheep by swimming off. The captain is faced with a tough decision of surrendering Leggatt or hiding him as he is being followed. This literary fiction present us with an opportunity to think between hard and necessary decisions in real world.
References
Dukes, J. (n.d). What is Fiction? Retrieved from Celadon Books: https://celadonbooks.com/what-is-literary-fiction/
Farr, T. (2017, October 7). The Real World Benefits of Reading Fiction . Retrieved from https://medium.com/@farrtom/the-real-world-benefits-of-reading-fiction-ccc7d8ab3f62#:~:text=Reading%20fiction%20produces%20other%20benefits,and%20helping%20you%20sleep%20better.
Seifert, C. (2020). Organizational Culture: The Case of Reading Fiction. Harvard Business Review Home .
Conrad, J. (2008). The secret sharer . ReadHowYouWant. com.
