Why Study Literature?

In today’s world where subjects and courses related to Pure Sciences, Commerce and Technology are comparatively popular, why study English Literature, or any Literature for that matter?

What kind of a job will I get with a degree in Literature?

Will it help me make money?

at the end, that is important, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, these are some of the questions many people ask.

For the practicality of it, sure, you can get a teaching job or a writing job or an editing job or a creative job. FYI, even trending jobs like Digital Marketing are looking for someone who is creative and fluent in Language. You know, someone who can write the same thing in a number of different, yet captivating, ways.

Now that we got that out of our way, let's discuss WHY Literature is actually good for us!

 We all know Literature is much more than just livelihood. Like my teachers used to say “It's a way of life itself…”

 Let’s divide the answer into two parts, shall we!

 First let's talk about the obvious advantages of doing a course in Literature:

1. It improves our language, that includes, our Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing skills. Reading texts with good language helps us imbibe the style, vocabulary and grammar without even being conscious about learning these. Remember! Some of the best speakers and writers are first readers.

P.S.: I know you have heard this one before, but you know why you heard it before...because it is TRUE!

2.It not just inculcates the habit of reading books, but also helps us define ourselves as a reader. After reading a variety of works, we understand what type of books we like to read personally. Books are not just a knowledge bank, but they are also a recreational space. You can also call it a creative hot-spot. It takes us places (real or fictional) from the comfort of our homes. And also crafts our personality, book by book.

3. Literature is not just studying a piece of text, it involves understanding fields like sociology, philosophy, psychology, history, politics, science, and technology, among others. It is the one subject, which encompasses every other subject. Literature, in its truest sense, is multidisciplinary.

This brings us to the second part.

Literature also has other subtle perks on a person’s mind. These are grounding and rather permanent.

1.While studying a piece of Literature, we are not just learning the language it is written in, but also the socio-cultural aspects of the period it is written in/ written about. This helps us understand the world as it was, and as it is today.

2. Literature develops our critical thinking and analysis. From the simplest form of textual analysis to applying the most complex World Theories and -isms, Literature helps us think critically as we read (which by the way, is a great achievement).

3. Learning about different ideologies opens up our minds. It compels us to look at the bigger picture as we discuss the minor or simple things in our lives. We also become less judgmental. Reading about the greatest ones who have made terrible blunders, we sympathize with them instead of judging them for their acts. On the other hand, reading about the characters with humble origins achieving great heights, we realize that simple beginnings do not necessarily mean simple ends. And this also translates into our lives, where we start thinking about the deeper meaning and purpose of things, which we might otherwise ignore.

4. Literature teaches us that everybody has a point of view in a story, not just the protagonist (i.e., the main character). In turn, it helps us understand the people in our lives better. If we have understood the Literature we are studying WELL, we WILL also learn to understand life in a better manner.

5. Most of the literature has Dual-purpose, that is, to teach as they entertain. Usually, there is an underlying lesson if not an obvious one. Ironically, it could also be, “let loose and just enjoy for once without thinking about learning something!” Children’s stories have an obvious “moral of the story” in them. But as we grow as mature readers, we realize that there is a lesson hidden within the simplest of writings. These lessons and values can range from a simple concept of “Loving Others”, to the most profound concepts out there which is, well, “Loving Others”.

What do we study in English Literature?

So, now that we know what are the different benefits of Literature let’s dive into what do we do as students of Literature.

Literature comes from the Latin word Littera meaning “words”. It is thus associated with words, oral or written. Over the period of time, the association grew stronger with the written words. But in recent years, it is again extending itself not just to oral folklore, but also adapting itself with technology and including texts available via different sources.

 So what is a Text?

Simply put, anything which uses words is a text. Be it a “text” message, a comment posted for a YouTube video, a “text”-book of any Subject, a newspaper article, or a long artistic description of, say, a sunset. But what we usually find in our syllabus is a small Poem or a vast Epic, a Short Story or a huge Novel, a One-Act Play or a full-fledged 5 Act Drama, and now-a-days, we also have TV series and Movies. They are all texts.

So, if all of these are texts, how do we decide what is literary and what is not?

 Before answering that, let us understand what we actually do as Students of Literature.

 We analyse the texts. We try to understand the text as it is, and the deeper layers of it. Take for an instance the following lines:

 

Pluck this little flower

And take it, delay not!

I fear lest it droop and

Drop into the dust.

 

If we take the “literal” meaning of these lines, we see that the poet is just talking about plucking a little flower before it drops into the dust.

But when we learn that the poet is Rabindranath Tagore and these lines are a part of his 6th Verse, of his Garland of Verses called Gitanjali, we realise, that is not what he meant.

We learn that he uses the metaphor of a flower and is requesting God to make use of him before it is too late for him. According to the speaker, if he is not chosen to serve God, his whole life is futile.

Let us take another example, this time from a play:

BIFF: He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.

HAPPY : [almost ready to fight BIFF]: Don’t say that!

BIFF: He never knew who he was.

CHARLEY [stopping HAPPY’s movement and reply. To BIFF]:

Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand; Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back- that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.

BIFF: Charley, the man didn’t know who he was. (Miller, 110)

When we read this extract from Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, we look at the dialect and the tone the characters use, the narration in the square brackets, and more importantly, what they ‘intend’ to convey.

When Biff says that Willy did not know “who he was”, was he upset about it, or angry or disappointed. Or did he not feel anything when he said those words. When Charley tries to defend Willy, how he chooses to do that, is equally important to the fact that he chose to defend him.

So when we are trying to analyse a text with such depth, can we treat any text as Literary?

We know that there are different types of text, and one way to classify them is by calling them Literary and Non-Literary. Some of the elements to look for to consider a text as ‘literary’ are as follows:

Language

First, let us look at the usage of language. Both types use language of course. Language is primarily used for communication. But a literary text uses language for more than that. Figurative Devices, like metaphor, personification and others, are used to blow life into an incident or an emotion. Even if the language is not poetic, it is still not plain, it is spicy and elevated.

Theme

Second, whether a poem, a story, a novel or a play, a literary text has a theme. A theme is the underlying link which holds the story together. It may be covert, and right there from the beginning, or covert and hidden till the end. But we will identify it. It is usually an abstract concept like love, or friendship, or contrasting ideas like good v/s evil, idealism v/s realism, and so on.

Subjectivity

Third, a literary text gives us the freedom to be Subjective. As a literary text has a number of layers, it can be interpreted in those many ways. No interpretation is ‘absolute’. Literature gives us the freedom to explore ideas, and this freedom led to the development of literary theories and -isms.

There are more identifiers of a literary text, many specific to the form. However, the texts which do not have the above mentioned components can be safely called as ‘non-literary’.

Academic text, like a Chemistry or a History textbook, or an academic article written after a lot of research, have Formal Language. The writers write exactly what they mean to denote. These are analysed or studied for research purposes, and not so much for literary reasons.

And then again, an advertisement, a newspaper article, or even the comments of a YouTube video can be considered as a literary text. If and only when we choose to analyse them- for the technicalities of the language and purpose; and with the freedom to apply an ideology.

The purpose of writing this article was to inform you the meaning and purpose of studying Literature as an official course. But does that mean we cannot analyse a text without formally learning? Not at all. In our daily life, we tend to analyse everything we read or see, consciously or unconsciously. A formal learning of the subject will of course widen the horizon, not just in terms of the number of theories and ideologies out there, but also in terms of the depth of the understanding. Like Syrio Forel taught Arya during her dancing classes: “Watching is not seeing” (Martin, 512). We may be good at ‘watching’ but ‘seeing’ things gives one a perspective.

 

 

Works cited

Martin, George R. R. A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones. Harper-Voyager, 2011.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Books, 2015.

Tagore, Rabindranath. “Verse 6.” Gitanjali: Song Offerings, Macmillan, 2015.

 

Image Credits: Pratham Books, Hyderabad Literary Festival

 

Smita Dhantal is a Researcher (English Literature and Theory) and a Creative and Academic Writer. She is a literary enthusiast and enjoys writing and exploring creative ideas.

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