In a provocative reflection on Thomas Bernhard’s work, Lynn Steger Strong delves into the intersection of fact and imagination in literature, highlighting the significance of “imaginative truth” in both fiction and nonfiction. Bernhard, known for his misanthropic, often repetitive prose, built novels that seem to circle around the same themes: lung disease, societal hypocrisy, ambition, and artistic genius. Though his works may appear to cover similar ground—often narrated by characters resembling him—the experience of reading them is far from monotonous. Instead, Bernhard’s writing overwhelms, exhausts, and ultimately delights, echoing the complexities of music, visual art, and the human experience.
Bernhard’s autobiographical work, though admired for its literary beauty, often leaves readers with a sense of distance from the subject. Strong draws a parallel with the experience of googling someone before a first date: armed with facts—age, job, background—but ultimately unprepared for the unpredictable nuances of human interaction. Similarly, the more we learn about an artist’s life, the more elusive their true essence may seem. Strong contends that facts alone do not reveal the essence of a person or their art; rather, it is the art itself—the emotions and ideas it conveys—that offers us a deeper connection to the creator’s internal world.
This notion of “imaginative truth” is a central theme in Strong’s teaching and writing. She describes it as an ineffable quality that cannot be fully encapsulated by biographical details. Whether or not an anecdote—such as Bernhard’s purported act of masturbation in front of a mirror—is true, the power of the image lies not in its factual accuracy, but in the feelings and ideas it evokes. The purpose of fiction, Strong argues, is not to convey factual truth, but to make ideas legible, to evoke emotions, and to help readers see the world through new lenses.
The concept of imaginative truth has been explored by numerous literary figures. Artists like Degas and Baldwin emphasized the importance of creating images that allow others to see what they themselves see. Writers such as Stephen Millhauser and Lorrie Moore echoed the sentiment, asserting that fiction has the ability to illuminate hidden aspects of the world, restoring what is often invisible or misunderstood. Rainer Maria Rilke pondered whether humanity has truly seen, perceived, or expressed anything of importance, suggesting that art and fiction have the potential to uncover deeper truths than the facts alone can reveal.
Strong highlights the unique capacity of fiction to make the unseen visible and to clarify the complex, often contradictory truths of human experience. By crafting scenes, dialogue, and imagery, writers create a world that resonates with readers, even when it does not conform to a literal or factual understanding of the real world. Fiction, then, is not simply about recounting events, but about reimagining them, about revealing layers of meaning and emotion that might otherwise remain hidden.
Strong encourages writers to embrace the creative and imaginative possibilities of fiction by constructing characters and scenarios that challenge accepted truths. For instance, she suggests that a writer might explore the idea that writing from life is not necessarily imaginative by introducing a character who herself is a writer, only to subvert this notion by letting the character acknowledge that she is fabricating the story. This act of creative invention reflects the inherently imaginative nature of fiction writing, where facts are not the end goal, but rather a means to explore deeper truths.
In a broader sense, Strong believes that all memory, like fiction, is a constructed and imaginative process. By allowing characters to reinterpret the same events in different ways, writers can explore the tensions and overlaps in their perceptions, ultimately offering a more complex and nuanced view of relationships and human experience. Strong’s approach encourages writers to think about how imagination can make abstract ideas and emotions “storyable,” transforming them into vivid, immersive narratives that challenge readers to reconsider not only fiction, but life itself.
In summary, Lynn Steger Strong’s reflections on imaginative truth remind us that art, in all its forms, is about more than just facts. It is about the power of imagination to reveal hidden truths, to evoke emotion, and to help us see the world in ways we never have before. Fiction, ultimately, is not about telling the truth, but about making the truth—imaginative and complex—come alive.
