by Joe David
World literature is more than just interesting stories of characters in action. It is the selective recreation of reality which, when presented from the right perspective, can unlock the secrets of man’s universe by providing an understanding of important abstractions, concretized by storyline and characters.
Through the dramatization of a historical moment, world literature thrusts students into a new or familiar world, where abstracts, represented by action and characters, are given life. Webster defines literature as "Writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest." I would like to add Aristotle's view. Unlike history, which represents life as it is, literature represents life as it might be or ought to be, and, for that reason, is of special value to learning.
What literature has that many other tools for learning lack is immediacy. It creates a moment that the reader can experience vicariously. A slice of life is turned into a fully realized moment, supported by an abstract idea, which the entire story will examine clearly from different perspectives. Unlike real life with its share of irrelevant details, literature is more real than life itself. This is because good literature distills from life the essence by concentrating only on the relevant. Consequently, it can be a dynamic learning tool for students and, when properly presented, a profound influence on their intellectual development.
To qualify as literature, a story must have four indivisible parts – a special theme, style, plot, and characters. Carefully chosen and integrated, these four parts make it possible for a story to unfold comfortably for the reader. Theme is the basic idea moving a story. It may examine a philosophy, trend, or a historical moment. No restrictions are made as to what the theme must be. But no good story can exist without it, for it determines the material selected to make a point. Since all good stories are dramatization of events, literature to have value must have purposeful action, structured logically, connecting events progressively (cause and effect) to a resolution or climax. What characters are introduced, what moments are developed, what views are presented, what dialogue is featured are all determined by the main theme.
In good writing, nothing is left dangling, and all parts fit together like the pieces of a puzzle to create a clear picture. William Shakespeare, for example, conveys through his plays that man doesn't have volition and is driven by some tragic flaw. Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina believes social conformity is more important than man's happiness. Fyodor Dostoyevsky examines the psychological depths of human evil in The Possessed.
To hold interest and to provide a theme, the author must devise a plot that is made up of a series of events. These events must be sharply focused. But most importantly, they must be linked to the theme, identifying it in some special way. By bringing these events together and linking them to a theme, the writer provides the reader with a glimpse of reality, stripped of irrelevance. But for these events to come alive meaningfully, they must be inter-connected and dramatized through believable conflicts and clashes, while progressively advancing toward an ultimate solution to an urgent problem. For this, characters are needed.
Ideally these characters should be memorable and interesting (like Quasimodo in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) with key personality traits that give them uniqueness and individuality. A good writer in selecting these traits is attentive to detail and character traits that will conform to the theme. Although there are many subordinate ways of characterizing a person (like through their thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc.), action and dialogue is considered the best. Character traits (like kindness, nastiness, etc.) to be believable are not simply stated as loose abstractions, but they are demonstrated by the character's actions, thoughts, and dialogue, given purpose by his motive.
The key to distinguishing popular fiction from great literature is found in the depth of the character's motivation (i.e., the philosophical message that is being identified). Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis, for example, would have been just another book without the brilliant portrayal of Petronius. The same applies to Dodsworth, the main character in Sinclair Lewis' Dodsworth, or the vicomte and the marquise in Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Without identifying the characters’ philosophical roots, these books would completely fall apart or at best be just barely readable.
Finally, there is a fourth element of good literature, and that is style. This is revealed by the careful selection of words and material to describe an event or a character. (For example, does the author focus on important objective details that reflect reality, or does he use subjective abstractions to create a moment removed from reality?) Style by itself may have a certain appeal and charm like beautiful poetry, but without the other three qualities of literature, it can often lead to boredom.
As these four parts of literature are interlaced, so is literature to its moment in history. A teacher who discusses literature removed from its historical connection is not clearly connecting the story to the reality it strives to identify. Each period of history made its unique contribution to literature, which connected logically to the next. Understanding the economic and social conditions that link history is necessary to give depth to a literary moment. Good teachers have always known this and have tried to provide dimension to the teaching of literature by introducing as much historical information as necessary to give a literary moment special life.
The England that influenced Shakespeare, for example, had seen the end of the War of the Roses. The peace following 200 years of battle was a period in which ancient Greek manuscripts were discovered and introduced into England. Minds, closed for centuries, were suddenly flung open to the beautiful universe which the Greeks had long ago discovered. Under the reign of King Henry VII and later Queen Elizabeth, England emerged as a world power and began to look outward toward the new world. This was the England which influenced Shakespeare. This was the world of Marlowe, Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, their new world! By defining this world, the teacher brings depth and understanding to the writings.
How much more alive literature becomes when taken in context like this, how much more significant it is when linked with other countries, and their influences. We are not an island, and neither is good literature. Instead, those great men and women of our past, those literary writers with a new and clear vision, are indivisibly linked to history. Teaching literature from a historical perspective provides students with what they crave: A deeper, relevant understanding of the subject.
Greater vistas occur the moment literary ideas are attached to their proper antecedent. These ideas no longer remain abstractions of limited importance but instead important links to powerful ideas shaping man and his world! Opening the mind like this to order exposes the student to logic. Great literature by its selective and orderly arrangement of elements (and its strong relationship to history or philosophy) does this. A wise teacher who highlights this order by integrating his lessons dramatically and methodically is succeeding at fulfilling the primary reason for teaching literature – to demonstrate the form and substance of thinking!
Through the dramatization of a historical moment, world literature thrusts students into a new or familiar world, where abstracts, represented by action and characters, are given life. Webster defines literature as "Writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest." I would like to add Aristotle's view. Unlike history, which represents life as it is, literature represents life as it might be or ought to be, and, for that reason, is of special value to learning.
What literature has that many other tools for learning lack is immediacy. It creates a moment that the reader can experience vicariously. A slice of life is turned into a fully realized moment, supported by an abstract idea, which the entire story will examine clearly from different perspectives. Unlike real life with its share of irrelevant details, literature is more real than life itself. This is because good literature distills from life the essence by concentrating only on the relevant. Consequently, it can be a dynamic learning tool for students and, when properly presented, a profound influence on their intellectual development.
To qualify as literature, a story must have four indivisible parts – a special theme, style, plot, and characters. Carefully chosen and integrated, these four parts make it possible for a story to unfold comfortably for the reader. Theme is the basic idea moving a story. It may examine a philosophy, trend, or a historical moment. No restrictions are made as to what the theme must be. But no good story can exist without it, for it determines the material selected to make a point. Since all good stories are dramatization of events, literature to have value must have purposeful action, structured logically, connecting events progressively (cause and effect) to a resolution or climax. What characters are introduced, what moments are developed, what views are presented, what dialogue is featured are all determined by the main theme.
In good writing, nothing is left dangling, and all parts fit together like the pieces of a puzzle to create a clear picture. William Shakespeare, for example, conveys through his plays that man doesn't have volition and is driven by some tragic flaw. Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina believes social conformity is more important than man's happiness. Fyodor Dostoyevsky examines the psychological depths of human evil in The Possessed.
To hold interest and to provide a theme, the author must devise a plot that is made up of a series of events. These events must be sharply focused. But most importantly, they must be linked to the theme, identifying it in some special way. By bringing these events together and linking them to a theme, the writer provides the reader with a glimpse of reality, stripped of irrelevance. But for these events to come alive meaningfully, they must be inter-connected and dramatized through believable conflicts and clashes, while progressively advancing toward an ultimate solution to an urgent problem. For this, characters are needed.
Ideally these characters should be memorable and interesting (like Quasimodo in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) with key personality traits that give them uniqueness and individuality. A good writer in selecting these traits is attentive to detail and character traits that will conform to the theme. Although there are many subordinate ways of characterizing a person (like through their thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc.), action and dialogue is considered the best. Character traits (like kindness, nastiness, etc.) to be believable are not simply stated as loose abstractions, but they are demonstrated by the character's actions, thoughts, and dialogue, given purpose by his motive.
The key to distinguishing popular fiction from great literature is found in the depth of the character's motivation (i.e., the philosophical message that is being identified). Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis, for example, would have been just another book without the brilliant portrayal of Petronius. The same applies to Dodsworth, the main character in Sinclair Lewis' Dodsworth, or the vicomte and the marquise in Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Without identifying the characters’ philosophical roots, these books would completely fall apart or at best be just barely readable.
Finally, there is a fourth element of good literature, and that is style. This is revealed by the careful selection of words and material to describe an event or a character. (For example, does the author focus on important objective details that reflect reality, or does he use subjective abstractions to create a moment removed from reality?) Style by itself may have a certain appeal and charm like beautiful poetry, but without the other three qualities of literature, it can often lead to boredom.
As these four parts of literature are interlaced, so is literature to its moment in history. A teacher who discusses literature removed from its historical connection is not clearly connecting the story to the reality it strives to identify. Each period of history made its unique contribution to literature, which connected logically to the next. Understanding the economic and social conditions that link history is necessary to give depth to a literary moment. Good teachers have always known this and have tried to provide dimension to the teaching of literature by introducing as much historical information as necessary to give a literary moment special life.
The England that influenced Shakespeare, for example, had seen the end of the War of the Roses. The peace following 200 years of battle was a period in which ancient Greek manuscripts were discovered and introduced into England. Minds, closed for centuries, were suddenly flung open to the beautiful universe which the Greeks had long ago discovered. Under the reign of King Henry VII and later Queen Elizabeth, England emerged as a world power and began to look outward toward the new world. This was the England which influenced Shakespeare. This was the world of Marlowe, Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, their new world! By defining this world, the teacher brings depth and understanding to the writings.
How much more alive literature becomes when taken in context like this, how much more significant it is when linked with other countries, and their influences. We are not an island, and neither is good literature. Instead, those great men and women of our past, those literary writers with a new and clear vision, are indivisibly linked to history. Teaching literature from a historical perspective provides students with what they crave: A deeper, relevant understanding of the subject.
Greater vistas occur the moment literary ideas are attached to their proper antecedent. These ideas no longer remain abstractions of limited importance but instead important links to powerful ideas shaping man and his world! Opening the mind like this to order exposes the student to logic. Great literature by its selective and orderly arrangement of elements (and its strong relationship to history or philosophy) does this. A wise teacher who highlights this order by integrating his lessons dramatically and methodically is succeeding at fulfilling the primary reason for teaching literature – to demonstrate the form and substance of thinking!
Basic Education (A Council for Basic Education publication)