Immerse Blog
Going Deeper With Maggie Dawn’s: Words, Pictures and Imagination
by Jim Kast-Keat on April 29th, 2011 -- filed under Arts and Culture
This year one of my interns began reading The Chronicles of Narnia. He’s 30 and had never read them. Claiming to resonate more with the world of non-fiction, he had avoided the once-upon-a-time genre, but now I receive almost daily text messages from him with his favorite quotes from this captivating story. He has been drawn into this world of truth, beauty, imagination and wonder. He has discovered the subversive power of narrative.
Maggi Dawn writes that “fantasy sometimes perfectly expresses some truth about the real world.” This is why people (like my intern) still read the books that Lewis wrote for his goddaughter Lucy; this is why hordes of people (like myself) flock to the midnight showings of the latest Harry Potter books and movies; this is why we remember stories but forget information. We live in a storied reality, making meaning of our existence via the narrative of our own existence and the narratives we create. This is the subversive power of narrative.
Words Create Worlds
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more is a compelling and well-told story worth? Our words can create worlds. From the images we see in movies to the images we imagine as we read and hear stories, a world is opened up that wasn’t there before. This “visual representation” speaks far more eloquently than mere facts and information. Ink on paper is one thing, but a world unfolding in your very hands is another. Facts and information…
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