As a writer, I always consider myself as one of the contributors to the flourishing of Literature. Whenever I think of it or share insights about it, I always refer Literature as a food. This art form, like a food, is created to be consumed. Literature emerges as soon as the writing system started to develop; hence, it continues to exist until now. On his Nobel Prize of Literature acceptance speech in 1962, John Steinbeck once stated that, “Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become needed.” Literature, as an art form, traces back as old as our ancestors first sat by a fire and started to share their experiences. Since then, storytelling became the universal treasure collectively shared, enhanced and consumed all throughout these generations.
Whether it’s a healthy or unhealthy food, food exists due to a demand, so is Literature. Either good or bad, high or popular and classic or contemporary, Literature is still here due to its demand. The demand came across every nation, every citizen and every culture. Whenever we are studying Literature, either because of our program or out of curiosity, we are actively participating on understanding various recorded human experiences. In line, there is a need to study Literature to enrich ourselves regarding the diversity of the world. From Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which captures social conflicts and teaches us how justice, redemption and kindness must be formed, to Paz Marquez Benitez’s Dead Stars, which shared to us the falling in and out of love, Literature assists us to be more empathic. Readers, as stated in Psychology, subconsciously become their favorite characters, as such, through consuming Literature, we tend to enhance our critical and creative thinking skills. Thus, Joyce Carol Oates shared, “Reading is a sole means by which we slip involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.”
The Little Prince by Antoine de-Saint Exupéry, teaches us the simplicity in life and how it gets complex along the way as we grow older and more mature. The essay of Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled Compensation perfectly shared how we must provide ourselves a definitive guide to always be balanced in our life. Leo Tolstoy’s God Sees the Truth, but Waits wrecks our hearts as we read further only to find out that forgiveness is a key to live and die happy. The mysterious and mind boggling In the Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa helped us deduct and investigate who is telling the truth and what drives witnesses to lie.
Not all Literature is for entertainment. It could be a terror teacher who manifests tough love. It could be a soft-spoken guidance counselor who will always be sincerely listening to our thoughts. It could be a classmate who may or may not become a true friend at the end. Whatever face Literature offers to us, studying it will always provide opportunities to experience how to be a brave knight, a lonely mermaid, a skillful mad scientist and so forth.
It is sad knowing that some or most students tend to see Literature studies as another language requirement, and worst, a boring discipline. I agree that Literature is boring if you are not willing to submit yourself to the text. But no matter how excited or bored you are in studying Literature, the vitality of it will come to you very soon.
It is truly beneficial to study Literature not only because it makes you wiser through reading or more empathic through your reading experience, it also connects you with the past.
Universality and timelessness, as parts of literary standards, make it possible. If you are wondering why the hate you have experienced from Jack Merridew from Lord of the Flies by William Golding or the sympathy you have felt from Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, this is because as we read Literature, it enriches us with various ideologies, introduces us to different linguistic features and incorporates us in the made-up society of these writers.
Overall, the function and reason why studying Literature can be seen in three ways: a) to enrich our humanity; b) to share wisdoms from the past and the contemporary; and c) to assist us in bettering ourselves. Studying Literature, whether as a student or an educator, signifies open-mindedness about the diversified socio-historical and socio-cultural experiences; hence, allowing ourselves to assume identity from different characters, explore human conditions and learn lessons helpful to improve the quality of our lives. Therefore, studying Literature not only is significant in our reading and writing skills, and critical and creative thinking, but also, vital to better understand what is it to be human and what is it to be humane.
Tags: literature, importance of literature, why read books, benefits of reading, love for reading, hate for reading, power of stories, books and society, Lifethinkler.
Author: Christian Loid Valenzuela
