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Quote by Vivian Gornick

“In all imaginative writing sympathy for the subject is necessary not because it is the politically correct or morally decent posture to adopt but because an absence of sympathy shuts down the mind: engagement fails, the flow of association dries up, and the work narrows. What I mean by sympathy is simply that level of empathic understanding that endows the subject with dimension. The empathy that allows us, the readers, to see the "other" as the other might see him or herself is the empathy that provides movement in the writing. When someone writes a Mommie Dearest memoir - where the narrator is presented as an innocent and the subject as a monster - the work fails because the situation remains static. For the drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent. Above all, it is the narrator who must complicate in order that the subject be given life.”

Quote by Vivian Gornick

Book:The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative
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Work

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

This book delves into the intricacies of personal storytelling, examining how the context of events shapes the narrative. It offers insights into the techniques and strategies used by authors to craft compelling personal narratives. more

Author

Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick

Vivian Gornick, born on June 14, 1935, is an American literary critic and writer known for her profound social insights and delicate portrayal of the female experience. more

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