Lie Lady Lie

A debate on the PsyArt list, on the nature of lies, especially concerning literature. Some say poets and writers do not—cannot– lie. My view:

If only the "different worlds" of literature were simply "different", and separate from "the real world" or "the real worlds..." But they are intricately involved with it, and there's the rub. Take the problem of realism, for instance. And there are so many other senses in which lies are relevant to literature---characters may lie, just like people. Lie lady lie. And poets, if they may be "true to their vision" as someone said before, may surely betray their vision or sell it cheap. And there are relevant issues of truth and lying regarding authorship, like hoaxes, impersonations, apocrypha, plagiarism, etc. If there can be truth in literature, then surely enough there can be fakes in it. And lies, and all the grey gamut.

Dichtung und Wahrheit