Fictional Characters and Memory Recall Studies in Literature

What Do We Remember about Fictional Characters? Fran oise Lavocat Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society December 07, 2021

The Who to talk about books you haven t read (Pierre Bayard 2007)

I. The Project Remembering Fictional Characters

How many characters in Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert (1857) Les Mis rables, Victor Hugo (1862) Harry Potter, J. K Rowlings (1997-2017) Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

How many characters in Madame Bovary: 64 Les Mis rables: 630 Harry Potter : 700 Game of Thrones 533

Remebering Fictional Characters 2021-2022: A survey conducted simultaneously in Paris, Berlin, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Calcutta. A study conducted with a team of neuroscience specialists (under the supervision of Demian Battaglia) at the Marseille hospital (spring 2022). Epilepsy patients, immobilized for their examinations, and fitted with electrodes. They will read a short novel, while their brain activity will be recorded, and through a questionnaire, we will compare these data with their memory of the characters and the plot.

The Survey First, name five characters that come to mind. They can be from books, movies, comics, TV shows, video games, whatever. They can be from books, movies, comics, TV shows, video games, whatever. Also list your favorite character, and your least favorite character, if any. They can be from the list of five you gave, or not. Then, if you remember , say which work they came from, who belonged to which media, who their author is, and which country the work came from. If you don't remember, that's okay, just leave it blank. Then, describe each character with three words, three adjectives. Say at what age you became aware of these characters, and in what circumstances (school, gift, advice from friends, chance, etc.) Finally, tell how many works of fiction you read or see each year, approximately, and if they are books, television series, films, comic books, video games, etc,

II. Presentation of the Survey Conducted in France February May 2021

The Survey in France Age of the participants 70 20 collaborators 17 students 6 from China or Korea 177 participants 107 women 70 men 60 50 40 30 Age (average): 39 20 10 0 13-19 ans 20-29 ans 30-39 ans 40-49 ans 50-59 ans 70 et plus

Work and Occupations of the Participants M tiers, occupations l ves, tudiants, stagiaires Retrait s sans emploi Cadres Professions interm diaires Employ s, artisans chefs d'entreprise agriculteurs

Origin of the Participants origine des participants France Chine, Cor e, Tha lande Reste de l'Europe Autre

The Characters 19 times Emma Bovary 18times Harry Potter 17 times Tintin 13 times Sherlock Holmes 10 times 9 times Zorro Mickey 8 times Sun Wukong 7 times Julien Sorel, Spiderman 6 times Naruto, Ulysse, Ars ne Lupin, Batman, Blanche-Neige, Jane Eyre, Joker, Spiderman 5 times Anna Kar nine, Gandalf, Jean Valjean, Thomas Shelby, le narrateur de La Recherche 4 times Donald Duck, Modesta, Picsou, Superman, Alice, Cendrillon, Cruella, Hermione Granger, Jon Snow, Le petit Prince, Lila, Riad Sattouf, Robin des bois Ast rix, Conan, Dom Juan, Dorian Gray, Emma Peel, Eren Jaeger, Fifi Brindacier, Hamlet, Heathcliff, Iron man, Louis de Funes, Capitaine Nemo, Mary Poppins, Nezha, Ob lix, Peter Pan, Pikachu, Hercule Poirot, Robinson Crusoe, Wonder Woman. 3 times Achille, Antoine Doinel, Aureliano Buendia, Aur lien, Belph gor, Bloom, Boule et Bill, Captain America, Charlie et la chocolaterie, Colombo, Consuelo, Cyrano de Bergerac, D Artagnan, Daenerys, Dark Vador, Docteur Who, Dracula, Elizabeth Bennet, Faust, Fleabag, Heidi, Hell Boy, Hulk, Indiana Jones, Jack O-Neall, Jack Sparrow, Jack Torrance, Jake Sully, James Bond, Jordan Belfort, Katniss Everdeen, Lara Croft, le Chapelier fou, Marguerite Gautier, Lupin, Luke Skywlaker, Leopold Bloom, Lisbeth Salander, Mathias Pascal, Mathilde Loisel, Merlin l enchanteur, Monkey D. Luffy, Mulan, Nana, Paul Atreides, Pinocchio, Pollux, Ph dre, Princesse Mononok , Princesse Sarah, Quasimodo, Raskolnikof, Scapin, Scarlet O Hara, Sissi, Tess d Uberville, Th r se Raquin, Vidocq, Walter White, Winnie l Ourson, Winston Smith. 2 times 1 fois 602 personnages (sur 716).

Characters Mentioned by Age Group

Who Are the Characters? Gender Out of 1069 occurrences of characters, 301 refer to female characters (or 28.1%) and 751 to male characters. If we count only one occurrence per character (without taking into account the fact that they were mentioned by several people), there are 716: 179 are female characters and 537 are male characters (i.e. 25% female). There are also 25 animals, 1 angel, 1 elf, 4 aliens including 2 robots; God and the devil. With Mickey (mentioned 9 times), Piscou (4), Donald (4), Pollux (2), Su Wukon the Monkey King (8), Pikachu (4), the set of non-human characters includes 68 elements (9.4%).

Who Are the Characters? Media The best represented category is that of characters from comic books, science fiction, fantasy, movies and children's or youth literature. It constitutes 33.3% of the characters shared by at least two participants. These characters include those from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Little Prince, the Marvel universe and Disney. The second group, which represents 30% of the characters mentioned at least twice, includes those who belong to what can be considered the literary canon, essentially made up of French and English works from the 19th century. However, most of these characters that we have identified as "literary" were not all known by reading the original work: it is often films or television series that are the source of these characters. Movie characters represent 16.6% of the total. The small proportion of characters from video games is surprising

The Media

According to origin 27 participants in China, Korea, and Vietnam named 138 characters, belonging to Chinese (44), American (31), Japanese (21), English (15), and to a lesser extent French (7) and Korean (5) works. Italy (2), Russia (2), Greece (2), Germany (1), Austria (1), Colombia (1) provide a handful of characters. 115 people born in France cited 676 characters. 38% from the United States; 31% from France, 13% from England. 25% from the rest of Europe (25 Belgian characters, 18 Italian characters, 4 Spanish (all from La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)!), 6 Germans, 4 Swedes, 3 Danes (all from Andersen's fairy tales), 2 Austrians (Lulu and Sissi) 5% of characters from Japanese works, manga, animated films and video games.The rest of the world, including Russia, provides only 2% Despite the usual domination of the United States and the Anglophone world, the characters cited by French people show a certain Eurocentrism. It is also amusing to note that Tintin and Zorro were often considered to be French!

According to origin (Asia/ France)

According to Level of Education The same characters are cited by people with different levels of education, but the order of preference is not the same. Tintin is the only character to be preferred independently of level of study. For people with the lowest level of education, Madame Bovary and Harry Potter do not disappear, but are no longer at the top of the list of preferences, where Zorro, Mickey, Spiderman and Snow White (the only female character mentioned more than twice in this group) are propelled to the top. There are also 9 low fiction consumers in the group of people with the lower degree of education: almost a third of the group. There are 26 of them in the total number of people interviewed. 5 people declared that they read or watch fewer than 5 fictions per year and 4 others fewer than 10. Only 2 declare themselves to be very big consumers of fiction (more than 100 per year).

According to Level of Exposure to Fiction Only 120 people responded to questions about their cultural habits regarding fiction. The disparity in exposure to fiction is very significant. There are 28 "low fiction consumers" (23% of those who answered the question): 15 people said they read or watch fewer than 5 fictions per year; 11 people read and see fewer than 10 fictions per year. 39 people (32%) estimated that they watch or read between 10 and 50 pieces of fiction per year. The "heavy fiction consumers" numbered 53 (44%): 42 reported absorbing between 50 and 100 pieces of fiction per year; more than 100 pieces of fiction per year for 21 others.

Age of the big consumers of fiction

Relationship to the characters 67.9% of the characters are encountered before their audience reached adulthood. 25% of the characters were encountered in the context of the family. 12.5% of the characters were encountered at school or college. 10% through the advice of friends or partner. 10% by chance 8.5% by curiosity, by personal choice

Characters are liked Only 12.5% of the adjectives that describe the characters are negative. "cruel" (6 times for male characters, 4 times for female characters); "mean" (6 times for MC and 4 times for FM); "selfish" (7 times); "manipulative" (5 times); "sadistic" (3 times). Most people refused to name a character they did not like. A relationship between fiction, memory and positive feelings emerges from many interviews. This position is transgenerational and crosses social classes

The characters qualities

Identification with fictional characters 21 men and 20 women said they identified with at least one character. In 11 cases, the characters with whom participants said they identified were mentioned first, i.e., that character came immediately to mind (the emotional investment associated with identification probably helps to remember of the character). In 12 cases, participants identified with their favorite characters Participants do not always identify with characters whose gender is identical to their own. The characters used for identification come from children's stories and animated films, but also from the literary canon (only for people aged 57 to 82)

Which Characters Do the Participants Identify With?

What Is Forgotten? The Characters Name The characters that are most often cited are mostly eponymous. It is likely that the repetition of the character's name in the title of the work favors its fixation in memory. A large number of characters came to mind for interviewees who had forgotten their names. In all, on 73 occasions, the interviewees did not name the character (7.3% of the cases), or named the character after searching for the name on the internet. Characters without names are often hated characters, which could suggest the link between memory of characters and positive affect. The names of film characters are very often forgotten in favor of the actor's name. The characters who were most often mentioned often have simple names (Tintin, Zorro, Naruto), and a characteristic physical appearance. It is certainly their costume, their hairstyle, which contribute to the longevity of Zorro, Spiderman and Cruella.

What Is Forgotten? The Authors Name Out of 1069 characters mentioned, only 645, or 60.5%, were associated with an author. In 240 cases, the interviewees admitted their ignorance. Television series and video games are unsurprisingly the cultural artifacts that are least associated with authors. Disney is the author most cited in the survey (32 times). It is cited as the author of Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats.... Neither Perrault nor Grimm are mentioned. Audio-visual media, with the exception of the cinema, lead to the forgetting of the authors identity. Not mentioning the author of a book belonging to the literary heritage of a country is exceptional, as far as audiovisual media are concerned, with the exception of cinema, where the opposite is the case: it is the knowing the author that is rare.

III. The Survey in America December 2021 March 2022

Research Survey Opportunity for Undergraduates and graduates 2021/22 Conduct surveys about the recollection of fictional characters from books, television, movies, video games, and comics (deadline 31 January 2022) Human Subjects Training, 3 hours paid at $15/hour 10 hours of research survey work, paid at $15/hour Involvement in a seminar (2 hours on 8 March 2022) to describe the approach and conclusions of the survey

Other Recommendations Make it clear to participants that this is not a knowledge test. Interview at least 3 people over 50 years old. Do not interview university professors and literature students. Insist that participants do not look for missing data (such as the name of the author, the work or the character ) in external sources (internet).

Why Am I Looking for Collaborators? To achieve a certain diversity in the responses, in terms of level of education, occupations and age group. To achieve a sufficient number of responses for the survey to be valid.

Interest for the Students Participating in the Survey Value of training and work experience Interest in participating in a scientific project Modest compensation ($200)