Facts Versus Fiction

Last night I had the opportunity to listen to two inspiring people: Ruchira Gupta, an activist against human trafficking from India who was in attendance to speak about her book, “River of Flesh and other stories: Prostituted Woman in Indian short fiction” and Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist whose most well known book is “The Color Purple”. Both of them spoke with passion and conviction about what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society. One important aspect of activism they mentioned changed my views about facts and fiction.

With conventional wisdom and as a researcher I look for facts over fiction while making up my mind on critical issues. My clients often trust facts or data than narratives. However, Alice and Ruchira brought a new perspective to my awareness and helped reaffirm my belief in importance of story telling in driving change.

Alice Walker talked about the importance of Ruchira’s book of fictional stories from the life of abused women. The stories have aspects of real life experiences of several women consolidated into stories written around lives of fictional characters. The format of fiction invites a reader to find a piece of the story that they can relate to and reflect over without first trying to filter the the facts and question the authenticity of the story. I learned at this event that a fiction is allowed easier entry into a reader’s awareness than factual account of a controversial issue or behavior. For an activist this is a very effective tool for communication.

Ruchira presented a similar perspective when she said, “Facts alienate whereas fiction connects”. Her point was (not exactly in her words) from years of experience championing the cause of abused women, she has found story telling critical to cultivating empathy and nurturing willingness to change. Fictional accounts help generate empathy, whereas presentation of cold facts separates emotion from understanding, making it hard for the reader to empathize with the abused woman, especially if the reader is a man.

Consider this- Ruchira is an invitee to United Nation’s Task Force on Human Trafficking. She regularly attends working groups where facts about human trafficking are presented and actions formulated. She remains committed to the monumental challenge of changing societal attitudes towards abused women. In this task she finds story telling and fiction writing more impactful than mere presentation of data.

For those of us, who are dedicated to inspiring change by cultivating and changing minds, the perspective on importance of fiction over facts is insightful. Social scientists in design have played a big part in making us aware of story telling as a part of getting our clients to reconsider their preconceived notions and align better with the life of everyday people. We often have to juggle our presentations between hard data and narratives. Yesterday’s event makes me more comfortable with the idea of writing provocative scenarios around fictional characters in order to inspire change.