What is Literature
Literature is composed of those books only, which by reason of their subject matter and their mode of treating it, are of general human interest. The elements of form and pleasure are to be designed as essential.
 |
| MA English Literature Notes Pdf |
Why do we Care For Literature
We care for literature because of its deep human significance. A great book criticizes growth out of life. Literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, experienced it, what they have felt. Thus literature is fundamentally an expression of life the medium of language. The great impulses behind the literature may be groups under the following heads
- Our desire for self-expression.
- Our interest in people and their things.
- Our interest in the world of reality in which we live, breathe, and have our beings.
- Our Interest in the world of rainbow or imagination.
- Ou love of form as form.
Literature as Experience of Life
Literature makes us partakers in life in more comprehensive terms than we know of our own individual knowledge. It opens up new fields of experiences and new lines of thought literature bring us to contact those fresh strong personalities that are immoral in the world’s great books.
Literature as a Source of Joy
Literature is a source of joy. In the house of gloom or sadness, with a piece of literature, we can transport to the land of heart’s desire. Literature is human documents and therefore we feel related to the character represented in it.
Keats says, “The great end of poetry is that it should be a friend.”
Literature Widens Human Look
It broadens the human look to distinguish between good and evil. There always be an unbroken tie of friendship and fraternity between Men of mind and pen of their countries.
Literature is the Product of Society
Literature is materialized only because the writer finds an instrument that has forced him to write. Literature is not a miracle, breathed into Life by the unequal inspiration that dwells apart from society.
A man of genius or very much a man of his age and a member of a social group. He is intellectually and emotionally equipped by society to proceed along with the established order. He is conditioned to conform with that order. It means his independence is limited by his dependence.
Life is at the basis of Literature
Life is at the basis of Literature. The writer is obviously interested in the happenings around him. Economics studies life in terms of demands and supplies, a politician in terms of social stress and strains, a moralist in terms of spirits and aspirations, a psychological in terms of ego.
In short, they have diverse roles.
Conclusion
When all is said and done. It must be admitted that if the work of a writer means life. It can’t be great literature. It ought to be invested with the virtue of permanence and universality.
Or
Literature Definition
 |
| Literature |
In simple literature means anything in written verbal material intended for the public or of interest to the public may be called literature. Literature came into use in the 14th century. Its roots are in French or Latin. Its roots are in Latin “Lattera”. It means a letter or alphabet.
In the word of C.S Lewis
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.
According to Matthew Arnold
Literature is a criticism of life under conditions.
Literature is the collection of those books which are related to life pleasure or knowledge are its main elements. But pleasure is an essential part of it. Literature is intimately related to society. Viewed as a whole, a body of literature is part of the entire culture of a people.
Literature has the power to change readers' ways of looking at the world. The Novel 1984 raised concerns over government surveillance of its citizens.
In other words, literature is not positioned at the remark from society, but at its very center. Studying English literature therefore also entails studying the major social developments in various English-speaking countries.
Literature has its own world. Literature is the mission of life. A great book grows out of life. It is a record of human experiences. Literature takes us to the new world of experience of life. It reflects us truly. It reflects our present, past, and future.
“Good literature always holds the mirror up to nature.”
There is a book behind the book, there is a man behind the man, there is race behind the race, there are nature and social environment.
We are close to the literature. The literature belongs premier to the expression of life. The writer reflects the story of someone’s life and its description from society. It comes to realize that the life depicted in the story is led by a hero. Something is similar to us.
Literature gives us pleasure. We feel happy when people share their experiences with us through literature. While reading such literature opens the doors of reality for us. Some people like poetry more than prose. Some like drama more than essays.
A man cannot keep his emotions and experiences inside himself. So he shares all this through literature. When we read this literature it creates our interest in the writer and his doings. It is also known for suggestions. It appeals to our emotions. The literature writer in the Romantic period touched our emotions. Milton describes hell in Paradise Lost. It opens a new world of imagination. Literature has played an important role in the shopping of the nation’s culture and ideology.
Everybody wants to tell others what he feels and what he thinks. So he expresses his emotions and thoughts through literature. Some express their emotion through Poetry, some express their thoughts through Essay.
Wordsworth says
Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
Eliot says
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion. it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.
The quality of what is literature needs a deeper insight. It is used in two ways very often. It means if anything is written.
For example
- Time-table
- Text-book
But we talk about literature generally. It is the impulse of life.
When we use literature, students can learn not only aspects such as vocabulary items but also that language can be used for specific and aesthetic purposes. Literature allows us to interpret our own life. It is also a form of entertainment and allows people to use their imagination to describe the story within their own minds. But find the real point of literature is the story of life, and all people want to do is to cannot to other human beings so they find meaning in their own life.
Such a type of literature in which one expresses his emotions, thoughts, and passions is called literature of self-expression. In this type of literature for example
- Poetry
- Essay
In this type of literature, the writer doesn’t talk about his own feelings. But he tells about other people. In this type of literature for example
- History
- Biography
- Epic
Besides these, there are more qualities that we can attribute to literature. There can be tests of literature well. These universality and stile universality is the appeal to the widest human interest and the simplest human emotion. Good literature knows no nationality but it knows only humanity.
Style is a pure person's view. In people's sense style is the man, the unconscious expression of writers our personality.
Post a Comment