Fiction and Escapism

[vijaya]

I won't go into too much detail or I'll waffle on forever; but to what extent is fictional literature escapism, and what threat or detriment does this do to working class/socialist movements?

Are our obsessions with Middle Earth and extensive sci-fi reading lists leading us away from activism, and making us susceptible to indulgence in consumerist phantasy?

[Os Cangaceiros]

I'd say that in just about every single example I can think of, in terms of "escapist entertainment", the majority of people who choose to endulge in such things do so responsibly and their life outside of those things doesn't suffer as a result.

[Hrafn]

If I can't read, it's not my revolution.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

If I can't read, it's not my revolution.

Indeed...If I can't read Tolkien, I don't want to be in your revolution.

[Art Vandelay]

On the book jacket of fear and loathing, HST paraphrases Faulkner and says that 'the best fiction is far more true then any journalism' and I think the sentiment is valid.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Why would people want a little escape or diversion now and then... Is their work somehow unfulfilling, do they feel alienated or something? Where's their puritain work ethic ? :lol:.

It really has little impact for movements or class consciousness for people to enjoy diversions... The 1930s saw a huge boom in popular escapism: fantasy, pulp writing, comics and movies about the fabulously wealthy (sometimes in a mocking way - like modern reality shows maybe).

[Flying Purple People Eater]

I won't go into too much detail or I'll waffle on forever; but to what extent is fictional literature escapism, and what threat or detriment does this do to working class/socialist movements?

Are our obsessions with Middle Earth and extensive sci-fi reading lists leading us away from activism, and making us susceptible to indulgence in consumerist phantasy?

No.

Storytelling is not and has never had anything to god-damned do with consumerism. It's existed as far back as can be recorded.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with 'escapism' (really? fictional stories are 'escapism'? Next we'll be hearing how the rules of soccer are 'escapism' because they obscure the fact that people are running around a field kicking a polysynthetic sphere in peculiar dress.). Any crackpot who argues otherwise is quite frankly insane. I mean, sure, if you don't like works of fictional literature, than that's fine, but a detriment to society!? Don't be insane.

[Comrade Jacob]

We do things to escape. Every form of entertainment is a form of "escapism". Entertainment existed in primitive communism so it can't be a capitalist design inherently. I will give you that most entertainment has been taken over by capitalism. Literature is something you brought up and middle-earth. I am a huge fan of Tolkien but that doesn't mean I'm not aware of class-antagonisms. There is nothing inherently wrong with escapism it's just how often it's used, what moments it's used and what you escape into.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I am a huge fan of Tolkien but that doesn't mean I'm not aware of class-antagonisms.
Hell, you can read Tolkien and enjoy the storytelling while also criticizing his assumptions and hating his politics. People can mentally multitask.


Don't be insane.it's an honest question... Many people wonder about this issue.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Fiction isn't necessarily escapist, and even if it's intended to be escapist there's still ideological content in there to be analyzed, critiqued, and learned from.

[Comrade Jacob]

Hell, you can read Tolkien and enjoy the storytelling while also criticizing his assumptions and hating his politics.

Oh I do.

[Tenka]

On the subject of Fantasy, I thoroughly enjoy Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, even though 8 out of 10 times a female is depicted therein the old-fashioned stereotyping can be laughable.

And not all escapism is equal. Reading about an imaginary world, for example, is not as much a waste of time as playing facebook games. I'm not going to try and reason why I think so, but it's surely true; I don't say this just because I enjoy the former and my mother spends far too much of her spare time on the latter....

[Thirsty Crow]

I won't go into too much detail or I'll waffle on forever; but to what extent is fictional literature escapism, and what threat or detriment does this do to working class/socialist movements?

Are our obsessions with Middle Earth and extensive sci-fi reading lists leading us away from activism, and making us susceptible to indulgence in consumerist phantasy?
This is a huge question, and essentially entailing other kinds of questions, like the one about the conditions of reception (dealt with reader response theories) and their relationship to the work itself, the authors projected views, and overall cultural and ideological context.

And as others have said, fiction is not necessarily escapist in that it portrays marvelous worlds with no apparent connection to our own. Indeed, fiction of the realist paradigm acts as a quasi-science of society, or it tends towards this at least.

But ultimately, when coming home from work and grabbing a book, we do seek to unwind, to relax and read something interesting, which might be called escapist, but not necessarily.