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My views on:- What is Literature?

What is Literature?



Being a daughter of a School Teacher, relation with literature is quite old. That is not always enough.  I used to read literature, but my understanding about Literature developed in my U.G and especially it developed more in P.G studies. During U.G study everything was just exam oriented but in P.G it became life oriented.

In school I never thought about this that what is literature or didn’t even know that the stories I read is called literature.

During my first year B.A, I had a book in my syllabus “An Introduction to English Literature for Foreign students” by R.J.Rees. Even that book was read  just for the sake of reading.  Then after that when anyone used to ask me that what is literature? I used to say that Literature means “Mirror to the society.” Even when I had to write what is literature for the admission process at P.G level, I wrote the same definition. 


What was the understanding back then and what is now? Things have changed and changed for good definitely.
I used to read literature in my graduation or in school too, but my understanding of what is literature developed at P.G level. Thanks to my teacher Dr.Dilip Barad for making me taste the real essence of literature. If from school I had been taught to read literature the way I was taught in my P.G Studies, then my understanding would be more mature.
During this journey of literature, I came through many metaphors.
Well understanding and defining literature is not an easy task. Still I will try to present my understanding about literature. When we say literature is a mirror to the society we somehow forget that we are also a part of this society. So it can be said that “Literature is a reflection of us”.
As Franz Kafka has rightly said in a letter to Oscar
Pollock in 1904: I quote “​“I think we ought to read only
the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book
we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the
head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us
happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy
precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that
make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if
we had to. But we need books that affect us like a
disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone
we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into
forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be
the axe for the frozen sea within us. I unquote.
Literature represents the darkest reality of us which is hard to accept. So we can say that literature is an axe for the frozen sea within us.

I would like to quote Cesar Cruz's quote,
“Art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.”

Similarly literature disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed. Literature disturbs something within us and also it comforts us when we are disturbed.

As per my understanding, I feel literature is a “Journey”.

When we travel at that time it is not necessary that our journey is smooth. Sometimes journey gives much joy and sometimes it gives sorrows. Sometimes we find ourselves in this journey and sometimes we lose ourselves in this journey. Sometimes we travel high on the mountains and sometimes we go deep into the sea. Sometimes we meet people or characters that change us and sometimes those characters disturb us. Sometimes we get connected to the places and people we come across and sometimes we just get disconnected with the world. Sometimes we are alone in the crowd and sometimes we have a million people with us in solitude. Sometimes while travelling we feel we know the path and sometimes we are lost in our way. Sometimes we smile and sometimes we cry. Sometimes when we meet with accident in our journey then that memories gives us pain and sometimes we get nostalgic to that moments spend in our journey. Destination can never give us more happiness, knowledge and understanding. This wonderful ride of life is only possible when we travel by “Literature Travels”.-(@Angel- Vaidehi Hariyani)

I feel literature is “Journey” of imagination, pain, truth, love, compassion, empathy, equality and much more. I am totally in love with this journey.

“Jaha se mein aayi hu waha mein wapas jana nahi chahti,
Jaha jana hai waha pahuchna nahi Chahti
Par ye rasta bahut acha hai,
Mein chahti hu ki yeh rasta kabhi khatam na ho.” – Alia Bhatt (Highway film)

Literature is “As endless as the Ocean, As timeless as the Tides.”


Reference:-
  • ·         Barad, Dilip. _On Defining Literature_. Ed. Iros Vaza and Deepak Mashru. The Voice of English Literature. Prod. Amazon Audio Podcast. 25 Dec 2016. Podcast. 
  • ·         Hariyani, Devhuti. "Instagram post." Instagram. 14 March 2017.

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