Friday, January 23, 2009

More pondering on imagination

After my last post, I pretty much found expressions of creativity that were outside of imaginiation, as mentioned in my last post. I also found that, to an extent, imagining is unavoidable, being the process which, if not responsible for, is greatly connected to memory, desigining, or making any kind of plan. But the concept of imagination in fiction still poses a question, with the answers and lines wavering as to their placement. Using Bible gateway, i could only find a few definitions of the term imagine. this is primarily because Bible Gateway only has a concordance for NASB and KJV.

In KJV, the most common definitions revolve around making plans, or devising something. others include reckon, think, and a few specifically about plotting evil

The NASB only has one use of the word, to used by Mordecai to warn Esther not to imagine (in this use, to think or make oneself out to be) that she could escape the fate of her people.

The other versions, while not having a dictionary reference, have contexts which denote similar meaning. But how do these meanings and definitions line up with the definition of what i'm putting on trial here? Is writing fiction in truth devising something or making some plan? I can clearly see in some instances, many in my life, how in my imaginings i planned, devised and worked out evil will towards others. But is this inescapable? Many imaginings are truly and undeniably vile and opposed to God's will. H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Ann Rice, J.K Rowling, write stories that by their very nature deny His God-ness. But is this avoidable in fiction? or is writing anything other than history effectively an elaborate lie, inherently a sin?

My thought goes to the parable. What is it by its nature? a truth in a story that was revealed to some and not to others. Was Jesus talking about actual seeds that were actually eaten by actual birds? I don't know, He might have been, but i dont think so. (know that i'm discussing parables now because part of what im studying is whether or not allegorical fiction is truly justified by God.) Those stories were about people and things that, as far as we know, did not actually exist. He speaks of things symbolically, doesnt He? and by the nature of Symbolism, doesnt that make them fictional? not to say unreal, He was telling truth in symbols, but can fiction be true? or does that defeat the purpose of fiction? One of the many definitions of fiction is a lie, which is contrary to everything that God is, but another is :an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation, and isnt that what is done in the parables? But i don't think i can stay on that part of the rant because it will most likely dissolve into a discussion of semantics, and those are NEVER productive.

maybe simply asking the question would get to the point better. Can I write a fictional story about people who dont really exist, doing things that never really happened in a place that never really existed, and not lie? Before you answer, think about this. I dont just mean completely unreal, with no basis in reality. This includes ANYTHING short of historical documentaion and autobiography. a character who is simply BASED on me is not really me and therefore never existed. Would telling his story be a lie even though it is my story? Why not just tell the actual story? i guess thats the question i have to ask myself. But what if the story is so much bigger? more than say or hope to describe? I don't really know, and i hope that people actually comment on this because input would be appreciated.

So at this point, i find myself at a roadblock: Fiction by its very nature seems like a lie, but that cannot be true as Jesus uses fiction and He is incapable of lying. Of course, i could be GREATLY misunderstanding or overthinking some things as i am guilty of that often. but m mind is fried right now, and i need to sleep. till i post again

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