"Empathy," Literature, and Performance

       Does the reading of serious fiction boost one's ability to feel into another person's emotions, help one understand another person?   Research published in the journal Science suggests the answer is yes, says Robert M. Sapolsky's op-ed piece in last Sunday's L.A. Times.

       This certainly was an article of faith during my college teaching career, now apparently verified with more objective measurement.

       Broadening one's capacity for empathy, for "feeling into" (from the Greek) is a worthwhile virtue for living.  Reading good literature does it,  performing literature can go even further, calling for the enacting of that empathy, for oneself and for audiences.