…empathy is the driving force behind the experience of emotions in narratives (Keen, 2006; Mar et al., 2006; Oatley, 2011).

Narratives are universally used for mediating emotional experiences. The purpose of aesthetic objects has been defined, in part, as ‘the awakening, intensifying, or maintaining of definite emotional states’ (Lee, 1913: 99–100). When we read or...