What is Literature and How Literature Shaped Me?


Hello,

This blog is written as part of a task assigned by Prof. Dilip Barad. In this blog I will write about my understanding of the question "What is literature?", "How literature shaped me ?" and my metaphor for literature. 

What, Why and How of Studying Literature : 


What is Literature ? 


While reading my own writing on "What is Literature?", I feel that my understanding of literature has evolved. From Plato to Stephen Gosson, poetry faced opposition. However, it was Aristotle who, by providing the definition of tragedy, stated that literature "through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." Dryden later defined literature with a new insight. Wordsworth described poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," while Coleridge defined it as "secondary imagination." Matthew Arnold claimed that literature is a "criticism of life." Then came none other than T.S. Eliot with his idea of "Tradition and the Individual Talent."  

All these definitions were challenged with the emergence of deconstruction. As I engaged with these ideas through words, my understanding of literature evolved. When I began exploring ancient criticism, I felt that this was the definitive explanation of literature. Yet, as I delved deeper into the definitions provided by different critics, the concept of literature became more obscure to me. Eventually, the historical sense helped me understand that literature is multidisciplinary.  

Initially, I believed that literature was simply a mirror of life a so-called cliché metaphor. Nonetheless, as I studied further, my understanding of literature developed. Literature provides geographical, cultural, religious, and critical insights into texts and ultimately into society. The Victorians believed in "literature as art for life’s sake," whereas the Decadents considered "literature as art for art’s sake." Ultimately, literature is a window through which one views society and at its highest level, it is a means of self-reflection, as encapsulated in the Western ideal of "Know Thyself."  

Literature is the expression of human existence and is highly political, offering a kaleidoscopic view to its readers. After the emergence of deconstruction theory, language came to be seen as inherently incapable of articulating meaning. Since literature is written in the form of language whether as novels, plays, poetry, films, web series, advertisements, pamphlets, journalism, and so on it inherently generates meaning. As Terry Eagleton and Karl Marx argued, literature is highly political and ideological, shaped by the social conditions of its time. This is also supported by new historicists like Stephen Greenblatt, who emphasized the historical understanding of literature as a reflection of its era, highlighting societal mistakes to prevent their recurrence or to alert readers to choose sides consciously.  

Literature is now changing its form into electronic forms, digitally generated literature, and even social media posts. Connecting this with cultural studies, particularly Raymond Williams’ assertion that "the everyday is important," the making of culture becomes the making of literature. We now go beyond referring to texts and instead define them as artifacts. I never thought that painting, photographs, or selfies could be interconnected with literature.  

When studying Cultural Studies, it showcases that literature is about power and representation. Michel Foucault's idea of power driving knowledge and Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony reveal that literature is a representation of power. Nonetheless, literature serves as a medium to expose the pitfalls of society its darker sides, biases, and mistakes.

The literature written by Orientalists and the colonized highlights the power of literature to represent marginalization. Whether it addresses binaries such as high and low culture, male and female, master and slave, or self and Other, it consistently provides an alternative narrative, which is crucial.

As Derrida emphasized the importance of "the metaphysics of absence," and Chimamanda Adichie asserted that "stories must be told," at its core, literature is ultimately about storytelling. As Rabindranath Tagore metaphorically described it as the "Temple and the Mahakal," literature endures across time. His poem 'Deeno Dan" still resonates with contemporary times. Literature provide us the spirit of "whataboutry". 

Rather than a shallow understanding of literature as merely a medium for delight and moral teaching, it transcends these definitions. Literature reaches its zenith when it surpasses the shackles of language, time, geography, and culture to become the morpheme of abstract ideas. 



How Literature Shaped me ?



"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."  


This quote is so appropriate to literature when I encountered literature. The word "literature" was not in my consciousness since college. I have always been fascinated by stories, poems, novels, and essays but never imagined that they were literature or even "Sahitya."  


My entire schooling was in Gujarati medium, and I clearly remember that as soon as I got my syllabus books, the first book I entirely read was in Gujarati. During the vacation, I completed reading 'લોહીની સગાઇ, બોળો, વેણુ, જુમો ભિસ્તી, ઘાટ ઘડિયા નામ રૂપ શું જુંજવા અંતે તો હેમનું હેમ હોય, ધૂળિયે મારગ by મકરંદ દવે, and ગ્રામમાતા These texts became an inevitable part of my mind.  


I used to visit my school library during primary school, which was uncommon in my school. Even in the 11th and 12th grades, the library was almost a storeroom. I got novels in Gujarati from one of my teachers. She gave me her novels, which became a gateway for me, making me realize that this was something I wanted. I chose English to enhance my language skills, totally unaware of the fact that there was something like "English Literature."  


The epiphany for me was reading the book "સાત પગલાં આકશમાં". This book struck me and made me question everything I had been following so far. I already had questions and contradictions in my mind, but this book gave me a clear way to articulate them. Then came a series of encounters with the character of Krishna, which led me to read almost all available books based on his life, deepening my understanding.  


TV was always close to me, especially serials in my childhood. I used to watch feminine cartoon shows and serials, which entirely shaped my understanding of gender. Shows like Doraemon were utopian, and that's why I found solace in watching them. In the meantime, during my graduation, I started understanding: "What is literature?" The stark realization once again came when I read the Hindi translation of The God of Small Things. Until then, I had only questioned gender, but now caste, class, and inequality were added to my thoughts.  



Until my master's, I believed that only written formats, especially books and magazines, constituted literature. After joining my postgraduate program, I realized how mistaken I was. I started developing an interest in watching movies. Watching adaptations of literary works played a crucial role in shaping my understanding. Here, I realized the diversity of other cultures, languages, people, and rituals. I understood Macbeth more clearly through its dramatic adaptation. Similarly, Jude's agony, Sue's boldness, Gatsby's wealth, Vladimir's restlessness, Masuji Ono's atonement, Hardika's epiphany, Karna's marginalization, Piyali's rationality, Anjum's secularism, Nnu Ego's lonely death, Wanja's courage, and so on made me believe that these emotions can truly be understood through literature.  When Arundhati Roy in Ministry of Utmost Happiness said this lines it hits me. 


"The guardians of our memory (the writers, the artistes, the scribes, the journalists, the painters, the singers, the dancers and the musicians) – they are dropping dead from the sky. The death is of course metaphorical, it’s the death of their ability to question because they are on a conditioned diet of obedience, obedience to the Great Nationalism. " 


The more time I spent with literature, the more restless it made me. The real struggle began when I started learning literary theories. Nihilism, existentialism, and absurdism struck me when I realized that reality has no inherent meaning. Every theory brought some revelation, making me realize how narrow my thinking had been. I started understanding that power is at the center and controls everything. Louis Althusser gave the idea of "interpellation," meaning the illusion of choice. Derrida shattered all my interpretive understanding by stating that language is not sufficient.  


I had an interest in politics, but literature provided me with new perspectives, especially when I read '1984' and Animal Farm. Literature made me question my narrow views on gender, where I once believed that only two genders existed. The concept of nature was entirely absent from my mind until I encountered literary theory. After reading ecocriticism and especially Gun Island, my understanding of nature changed. Until then, I had believed that humans had privilege and rights over nature a very romanticized idea. I learned how nature is deliberately feminized to justify its exploitation.  


I also began to understand the role of capitalism through movies like The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Anthropocene, and Postcolonialism. It was fascinating to see how many perspectives, ideas, and ways of thinking were previously absent from my mind. Now, I have expanded the horizon of my thinking ability.  


Altogether, literature gave me restlessness and nihilism, which ultimately led to curiosity and creativity. I embraced nihilist ideas and planted the seeds of existential hope for the future. I faced the darkest sides of life, as it is said that literature is a mirror of life and ultimately, of our own.  


Here is the additional resources to look upon.


References : 

Barad, D. (n.d.). Literature: What, why and how. https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2016/03/literature-what-why-and-how.html

DoE-MKBU. (2020a, December 18). Humanities vs STEM: DS  Sem 1 and 4 2020 12 18 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92E0oWss6mg

DoE-MKBU. (2020b, December 21). How Literature Shaped Me: Sem 4 online classes: 2020 12 21 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zJpW_WNZoI

DoE-MKBU. (2020c, December 22). How to Write “Learning Outcome of Studying Literature”: Sem 4 Online classes 2020 12 22 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3URIsg7pxw8

Macat. (2016, April 14). An introduction to the discipline of Literature [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz9rfDm1Wr4

The School of Life. (2014, September 18). What is Literature for? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RCFLobfqcw



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