Hi Kryssonia!
You raised a lot of good points, some that I did not think of. I agree with you that the part about "reading these novels created a sense of equality" is far too much a stretch. This might not be what Lynn Hunt is saying but I personally think that there are certain things that a novel or perhaps a front row sit to injustices, cannot teach or have a person understand fully to say one is empathetic or what have you. It might spark something for sure, but I'm not sure it is enough to make that conclusion. I also do recognize that there is no way of measuring how empathetic one needs or should be or if someone's empathy is 'enough'.
You raised a lot of good points, some that I did not think of. I agree with you that the part about "reading these novels created a sense of equality" is far too much a stretch. This might not be what Lynn Hunt is saying but I personally think that there are certain things that a novel or perhaps a front row sit to injustices, cannot teach or have a person understand fully to say one is empathetic or what have you. It might spark something for sure, but I'm not sure it is enough to make that conclusion. I also do recognize that there is no way of measuring how empathetic one needs or should be or if someone's empathy is 'enough'.