Abstract

Are novels good for us?
Davis, Lennard J. | July 15, 1996 issue

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The article discusses the book "Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life," by Martha C. Nussbaum. In the book Nussbaum is on the side of those who claim that the novel provides a valuable way of seeing the world, as useful as factual documents, economic analyses or utilitarian blueprints. Indeed, she claims that the novel goes these quantitative approaches one better because the novel "constructs empathy and compassion in ways highly relevant to citizenship." Nussbaum elaborates his point of view by reading a very few novels, mainly "Hard Times," by Charles Dickens.

See Also:

POETIC Justice (Book); NUSSBAUM, Martha C.; FICTION; RELEVANCE; EVERYDAY life; HARD Time (Book); DICKENS, Charles, 1812-1870
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