In today's introductory class, we talked about why literature matters. We need this proper warm-up before seriously engaging our soul, mind, and even spine and muscle in the study of literature. I cited Oscar Wilde's remark on arts ("all art is quite useless") to start my point: art does not have any "practical" values. By arrogantly proclaiming "art for art's sake," Wilde is justifying the intrinsic value of art, which is separated from the "utilitarian," "practical," or the narrow-minded concept of life practiced by the philistines, who dedicated themselves to the worldly pursuits such as making money, limited themsleves to their comfort zones, and were generally hostile to culture, the arts, and the so-called "spiritual" things.
This understanding is crucial, since once you're here, you also need to justify yourself (to your parents or even society) why you are here, why do you study literautre, such a luxury and seemingly "unpractical" subject (unlike business, law, or medicine) from the perspective of the mainstream society.
You are here because you want to know the techniques to appreciate the sensual pleasure of verbal craftsmanship of many literary works, to garner the delightful play of reality and illusion, to liberate yourself from your limited existence and enter into other worlds and cultures, to expand your horizon, to cultivate empathy and the spirit of understanding, to have a critical mind to lift you beyond familiar ways of thinking, and so forth.
See, the reasons why you are here are endless and full of possibilities. It is so simple yet also so complicated. It is about how to be a human being. This explains why we need literature and why we need arts.
Therefore, welcom to the realm of literature. I hope all of you will enjoy the process of this exploration. Please also be reminded that sometimes the best pleasures require an effort that beginners like you tend to call "pain." But no pains, no gains, right?
4 comments:
testing testing
What the teacher typed recalls what I have heard--three questions. There are what I want, what we doing now, whether something I do now will come true. It's so crucial for our life. It can help us give more room to think how to take the next step. And we also have to know and to define ourselves. Therefore, we can see that the life is meaningful.
I am so excited taht the literature class is coming. I can learn more about culturals and techniques. I also excited how the teacher teaches this class.^^
I'm so sorry for that stupid mistake.Well, why do we need literature? Except for the moon in the night sky, don't forget, there may be a more real world, the reflection of the moon in lake water. People should not always be in pursuit of fortune, cuz that is too shallow. Literature which is abundant in arts and cultures lets us see a kind of reality leaning close to the back of the actuality and beauty. And now I am ready for tha baptism of literature.
Since I am a sophomore, I should be able to answer this question easier and clearer. I surely hope so, ha. Well, talk about the question "Why are we here?" is really an important thing which we need to clearify our thoughts first. We won't be learning how to earn money or telling us which way should we choose iin the future, I guess. What we are doing here is trying to find out what we like and broaden ourselves. Teachers don't tell us what to do, it's ourselves whi need to find out what we like. And "Why do we need literature?" is intersting. From my point of view, literature is a kind of invention, it is art. Just like many other things, music, dance, painting, they're all art and art itself is an invention, expression, and beauty. That keeps our world and cultures warm and vivid. Without art, the world and human are nothing more than lives.
Post a Comment