In general, people can survive without external artistic stimulation because they can make it themselves and get it from others without needing writing. That's my point, all through history most of the people have survived without forms of written entertainment. No bookstores, no Amazon.*, no libraries, for most of the people most of the time. They sing, they tell each other stories, they may get the occasional wandering bard or a preacher who tells them stories about some religion. Or for the lucky few they had captive entertainment employed by the local aristocracy. And if they are all alone they can still think and dream (and find 'art' in nature).

Access by the general population to written fiction, or to written materials at all, is a very recent thing. For most of the time it has been the province of the rich and those they favour. And for much of the world this is still true.