Michael Shenk:
Nonfiction. I've never liked that word. How can any of us accept such a term that defines us by what we don't do? The word "journalism" is more descriptive, but so pedestrian. Both sound a little better when you put the word "literary" in front, but that still doesn't come very close to conveying my feelings about the possibilities and purpose of writing about real people, places, and ideas. I believe that nonfiction, just like all writing, is an art that demands creativity, humanity, humility, deep thought, endless amounts of attention to detail, and an openness to truth that goes well beyond any list of facts.
What is the quest of a nonfiction writer? ... Wolfe said, "To me the great task is to discover things that people haven't noticed, and to bring them to life. To make people see them and understand them for the first time. The great goal is discovery."
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/11/on-the-art-of-non-fiction/30107/
@NicoleCRust Some random thoughts here, one that the science writer I probably appreciate most these days is Ed Yong - and I think what really stands out, especially in the pandemic writing, was his extraordinary ability to convey empathy. There are interesting discussions about the limits, or boundaries, of non fiction that swirl around one of my favorite writers, Ryszard Kapuściński (similar to some discussions around Wolfe, Capote et al)
@cyrilpedia
Thanks! I'm fascinated by the big idea that explanations and understanding are different ways of knowing, emphasized in the natural sciences versus the humanities, respectively. The notion that Yong combines them in his writing is insightful.
Slices of psychiatry think about them this way:
Explanation—the approach taken to the world by the “natural” science—views all phenomena from the third-person perspective and seeks to comprehend causal processes in a third-person, objective, and therefore verifiable framework. Understanding, by contrast, is a distinctly human process involving our ability, through empathy, to grasp the phenomena of meaning and connect with our fellow human beings. This is an approach typically used in literature, the arts, and other human disciplines such as history. Understanding is particular and unique rather than general, linked to the first-person perspectives, and is “story-focused.”
Taken from:
https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/9452/philosophical-issues-psychiatry
Cites:
Karl Jaspers in his great text General Psychopathology (1963):