What
is literature?
This
blog is written as a task to write definition of Literature after
studying M.A. at Department of English, MKBU. While taking
admission at Dept. Of English i had written following write up about what is
Literature? & in this blog i will try to write critique of my own
write up. What i believed earlier & NOW.
"Day
by day in a everyway i am getting better & better"-Emily ku.
I
want to define Literature, but while doing this i remember lines of Derrida
that is it possible to define anything once and for all?? Or at what extent can
we define something? Because when we include something into definition we are
excluding rest of the things.
Now
i totally may not agree with the my own writing. Because i had written that
Anything that is written is called literature.
The
very first line of my writing can be deconstructed because it says
"Anything that is written is called literature". So what about Oral
literature? Or “the
literatures
of preliterate people?? So, my own line seems to me misleading. It may be
true in general sense, partially. But it is much more than written words.
Literature
is imaginative writing. A kind of story that cannot be literally true. If
it is true then it is fact, not fiction. It is man made, not natural.
So,
there is always clash between imaginative V/s Realistic, Fiction
V/s Fact, Historical truth V/s Artistic truth (Jodha Akbar,
"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", Jesus and Mary Magdalene in Christian history
and in The Da Vinci code , the list can be extended. ..) So, the question may
arise that how to discriminate novels and news stories, fact &
fiction. Because comics and pulp fiction are purely imaginative &
fictitious YET not literature. One point where it differs is POETIC JUSTICE (bad
people punished & good win at last). But POETIC JUSTICE is not possible in
real world. There is CATHARSIS (purgation of emotion, sense of relief) in
literature. This is what makes it distinct than other disciplines.
Language
is the brush of artist(writer) through which they paint/ create delightful
verbal painting. Ornamental language is characteristic of literature but it
does not mean that simple language doesnt make good literature. There is also
general agreement that literature foregrounds language, and uses it in artistic
ways. Terry Eagleton goes some way towards a definition of literature and its
relationship to language: “Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary
language, deviates systematically
from everyday speech”. Just as architecture is the art form that arises out of
the human ability to create buildings, literature is the art form that arises
out of the human ability to create language.
Timelessness,
eternity, universality, permanence, originality, craftsmanship are the
characteristics of literature.
What
writer tells through characters that makes it great & permanent.-( lines
like "to be or not to be", "Nothing can be done",
"There was unrest, there was great unrest", Until the lions have
their own historian, the history of hunt will always glorify the Hunter.
etc.)& Philosophy of life(Like Waiting for.Godot), psychology of
humans(E.A.Poe's stories, Dr.Jakyll and Mr.hyde) & relevance of
character's experiences with present time makes it good literature.( it would
be controversial if i categorize-'Good literature' & 'Bad literature. As
such there is nothing good or bad but our thinking & way of looking makes
it so)
Writers
are not the ordinary people. They have vision to look beyond what other dont
see. They captures spirit of time & undercurrents of society. Creative
writer has artistic sensibility. He observes the world like any common
man but his vision observes the world quite differently. He can perceive
from life experiences what common man cannot see at all. This experiences and
observations get imaginative colors with the help of artistic sensibility. He
creates world of imaginative reality. His literary world is more beautiful and
artistic than real world. He is naturally gifted to create the world which has
power to move and transform the reader. He gets his raw materials from life. He
is critic of life.
Literature
is a 'huge Ocean', no one can discover &knew its vastness, secrets and
mysteries in totality.
Literature
is not just imaginative stories written in leisure time only for entertainment.
But it is reflection of time, place and society in which we are living.
Literature is mirror or photographic image of society. equally literature is
also an x ray image portraying ugly, darker sides of society. સાહિત્ય
કૉઇ એક
દેશનું નહી
આખા વિશ્વનુ
પૃતિનિધિત્તવ કરે
છે. સાહિત્ય
અને સમાજ
વચ્ચે બિંબ
પૃતિબિંબનૉ સંબંધ
રહેલો છે.
Still,
whatever definition we try to give literature will remain incomplete because
its exactly like 5-7 blind men defining Elephant, by touching it. Whatever
aspect they will touch upon, will define like that.
Literature
is made up of various genres like plays, novels, poems, short stories and
essays. Each genre is distinct.
Literature
is beautiful amalgamation of Imagination and Experience (Realism). At the same
time it is Subjective, the same text affects readers differently. You
will get from texts what you are interested in. Few readers will satisfy
themselves by surfacial meaning & few will dig deep and reach to the hidden
allegorical meaning.
Literature
is also timeless and universal. Because its subject matter is human being &
human nature is the most COMPLEX in the world.so, literature is as compex as
human nature.
"ઝેરના
પારખા ના
કરાય". So we learn through fictional
characters. (For example 'acting without thinking- Othello', &'Thinking
& thinking and never putting into action-Hamlet'- both is dangerous)
Reading of books is a means of getting much more knowledge than we could ever
hope to get through our own personal experiences. It helps us toward a better
understanding of self & society. By reading literature we learn about human
problems & difficulties.
Life
is not a video game that once you die, that once your game is over you restart
& start playing again. Life never gives second chance. So books, literature
like history indicates us towards the error of judgement made by fictional
characters. So that you learn from others.
Humanity
has progressed a lot. Knowledge is multiplying everyday & this is stored in
good books. If we dont use it then what is the use of it because we will repeat
the same mistake made by previous one. So, LITERATURE IS BANK OF KNOWLEDGE
& WISDOM. THE MORE YOU INVEST IN READING THE MORE INTEREST YOU WILL GET.
While
looking from various point of view, one angle leads me to think literature as
marginalized history. What dont get place in history that gets its outlet in
history. Example of it can be "Train to Pakistan" by Khushwant Sinh.
The partition strife & suffering of people living in border areas is voiced
in literature. History may celebrate independence struggle & few political
leaders, but is always silent over pain of ordinary people. This traumatic
experience which is religated by history is captured by literature. At the same
time the texts like The Da Vinci Code by Brown can be read as Alternative
History.so, in one sense LITERATURE IS ALTERNATIVE HISTORY.
Another
definition can be given is Literature is like organic body, everything is
interrelated deeply.
Apart
from just story- what is told, 'HOW' it is told is also very important.
Literary techniques used by writers makes it perfect. Epistolary
technique, stream of consciousness, memory narrative etc are fine
example of it.
So
what to write as conclusions of what is literature? Well, !!! Literature
is much more than what I''ve written.
