Imagination, I think, can lead to people's experiencing real emotions just as reality can. This is because when people react emotionally to something, they are not really reacting to that thing - they are reacting to their perception of the thing. If my roommate breaks his arm and informs me of it, I will feel bad not for him directly, but for my perception of him as having broken his arm and being in pain. If I misinterpret his reaction as being a practical joke, I will not feel bad for him, because although he has still broken his arm I have not perceived it.
People can perceive imaginary objects, worlds and characters in a way similar to how they perceive the real world. It is true that there is a difference in the manner of perception, but I do not think it is significant enough to warrant creation of a separate, lesser class of emotions for imaginary perceptions. As an example, let me present four similar scenarios: 1. A child is beating up their younger sibling in your presence. This causes a strong emotional reaction on your part, and you step in to interfere. 2. You read an autobiography, and at one point the author recounts how their older sibling used to beat them up as a child. You still have an emotional reaction, but you do not attempt to interfere because you cannot affect the past. 3. You are watching the news on television, and see some live footage of a child beating up their younger sibling. You have an emotional reaction, but do not attempt to interfere because you cannot reach the children in time to do anything. 4. You read a story about a fictional child beating up their fictional younger sibling. You have an emotional reaction, but do not attempt to interfere because you cannot affect fictional realities.
The emotional reaction is not identical, but it is similar. I think that people, while recognizing that fiction is in fact fictional, can still perceive it as real in a way - real emotionally, but not literally.
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