230. Using Literature to Know Ourselves feat. Leonard Barkan

unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc · Jan 4, 2023 · 44m

When we read fiction, our brains are able to suspend our awareness of the fiction so we can fully immerse ourselves in the story we’re reading. When this happens, we are able to think about our own lives and personal beliefs in the context of the story. That’s the power of great art- the themes of a text should transcend the particulars of that story, its setting, or those characters. Leonard Barkan, professor of literature and classics at Princeton, has had this experience over and over in his life when it comes to the work of Shakespeare. His new book, Reading Shakespeare Reading Me…