Emy Koopman

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Emy Koopman
OccupationScholar, journalist, novelist
Alma materRotterdam University
Period2016–present
SubjectLiterature, empathy
Notable worksParadise Canada, Reading Suffering[1]
Website
emykoopman.nl

Emy Koopman (born 1985) is a Dutch writer, journalist and presenter. She has written for De Groene Amsterdammer, de Volkskrant, de Correspondent and hard//hoofd.[2]

Koopman studied Literary Studies and clinical psychology. In 2016 she graduated, with a dissertation on Literature and Empathy.[1][3][2] That same year, her debut novel was published Orewoet[4] and was nominated for The Bronze Owl for the best Dutch-language first work, and for Fintro Literature Prize. In August 2020 her second novel was published Het Boek van Alle Angsten (The Book of All Fears).[5]

Scholarly work[]

There are over 500 scholarly citations of Koopman's English-language work on Google Scholar.

Keith Oatley, noted Canadian researcher and professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at University of Toronto, has commended her work, highlighting it as an exception in the field of studies on lifetime reading. In his 2016 paper Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds,[6] Oatley makes note (34), citing Koopman's How texts about suffering trigger reflection: Genre, personal factors, and affective responses,[7] he writes (emphasis added):

On their own, studies based on estimates of lifetime reading might be dismissed as merely correlational. On their own, most experimental studies in this field might be dismissed because their outcomes occur soon after reading and may be due to priming, that is, making consideration of character temporarily salient. Exceptions have been two longitudinal studies. In one of these [33], a week after people had read a story, they were more empathetic if they had been emotionally involved in it, but not if involvement had failed to occur. In another study, narrative prompted empathy immediately after reading, and also prompted emotion and reflection in the days after reading [34], but empathetic effects were not found with reading a piece of nonfiction. The range of studies using different methods, based on long-term, medium-term, and shortterm outcomes, indicates an effect of narrative fiction that is potentially important.[8]

In Effects of literature on empathy and self-reflection: A theoretical-empirical framework, Koopman and Hakemulder propose a multi-factor model, with "stillness" as a central pillar.

Central in our model, however, is a new term, “stillness”. ... Stillness is related to, or overlaps with the more commonly used term “aesthetic distance,” an attitude of detachment, allowing for contemplation to take place. In our model, stillness is an empty space or time that is created as a result of reading processes: the slowing down of readers’ perceptions of the fictional world, caused by defamiliarization (compare the increased reading times in Figure 3). The model proposes both narrativity and literariness influence stillness indirectly, as it would result from defamiliarization but also from role-taking: both processes are associated with longer reading times.[9]

Citing the above theoretical-empirical model, Maria Eugenia Panero et al. writes in a critique of another paper: considering studies of reflectivity, greater analysis metrics, Panero depends on and references[10] Koopman's claims:

Furthermore, it has been argued that specifically literary fiction, but not popular fiction, evokes a kind of mental stillness during which readers stop and reflect as they read (Koopman & Hakemulder, 2015[9]).[10]

Video journalism[]

In 2020, she wrote and presented Paradise Canada, a five-part Dutch-Canadian documentary and travel series published on VPRO.[11][12][13] Considering the generally favourable image of Canada from the Dutch national perspective, Paradise Canada tackles very serious issues, evolving culture and society of Canada. Topics and locations include social impacts of Homelessness in Vancouver, the industry of Athabasca oil sands and Fort McMurray, violence against women in light of the Toronto van attack and the cultural, national tragedy, affected markedly on indigenous women, of the Highway of Tears in British Columbia.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Reading Suffering. Erasmus Research Center for Media. ISBN 978-90-76665-28-3.
  2. ^ a b "Emy Koopman". Vrij Nederland (in Dutch). 2020-08-30.
  3. ^ "Why do we read sad books? Eudaimonic motives and meta-emotions". Poetics. 52: 18–31. October 2015.
  4. ^ Review: Emy Koopman – Orewoet, Tzum, 24 October 2016
  5. ^ Jann Ruyters (2020-08-29). "Emy Koopman on the bully society, where the schoolyard triumphs" (in Dutch).
  6. ^ "Fiction: Simulation of social worlds" (PDF). Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 20 (8): 618–628. August 2016.
  7. ^ "How texts about suffering trigger reflection: Genre, personal factors, and affective responses". Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. 9: 430–441. 2015.
  8. ^ "Fiction: Simulation of social worlds" (PDF). Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 20 (8): 621. August 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Effects of literature on empathy and self-reflection: A theoretical-empirical framework". Journal of Literary Theory. 9: 79–111. 2015.
  10. ^ a b "No support for the claim that literary fiction uniquely and immediately improves theory of mind: A reply to Kidd and Castano's commentary on Panero et al". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 112. March 2017.
  11. ^ "Paradijs Canada" (in Dutch). VPRO. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  12. ^ "A cold shower for a fan of Canada" (in Dutch). NRC. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  13. ^ "After 'Paradise Canada' we are both 'sadder' and a bit 'wiser'" (in Dutch). De Groene Amsterdammer. Retrieved 2020-09-02.

External links[]

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