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Here's one: Kotodama - a Japanese word meaning "the soul living within the word." It includes the idea that there is a truth in stories regardless of whether they are fiction or nonfiction. The distinction is between the authentic and the inauthentic. Thus, "they ask of a story whether it helps. Does a story give hope? Does a story edify? Does a story make it possible for people facing the worst things in their lives to conquer those things and go on, by themselves and as a society?" -- I love this word kotodama and the idea it encapsulates. It was introduced to me by author Barry Lopez in his acceptance speech for the 1986 National Book Award for nonfiction.