how to tell what type of study an article is
For many folks, the word "literature" conjures upwardly memories of high schoolhouse English class reading lists. While the Western literary canon is expanding to include, and elevate, stories exterior of what white, Western readers have dubbed "the classics," there are all the same some works that ingather up in every educatee'southward career, from Frankenstein and the Epic of Gilgamesh to Dear and The Not bad Gatsby. So, why is literature of import — and why do we written report it?
Merriam-Webster defines literature as poetry or prose that has "excellence of class or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest." While information technology may audio trite to say, the globe's greatest works of literature have changed minds, sparked rebellions, and helped to alter the class of history. While it would be impossible to contain all of literature'due south contributions and multitudes hither, we're going to take a expect at some of the landmark moments in this art form's history.
Literature Transports Us To the Past
Like other recovered art objects, literature has the power to tell united states about ancient civilizations. Not only tin can nosotros understand their community, values and lives, simply nosotros tin can go a better idea of what their entertainment looked like. The first-known examples of literature can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia. Around 3400 BCE, the Sumerians developed a arrangement of writing called cuneiform, which allowed scribes to tape myths, hymns and poesy. Some of these earliest-known transcriptions include the "Kesh Temple Hymn" and the "Instructions of Shuruppak," both of which were written effectually 2500 BCE.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, a long-form Mesopotamian poem, was originally written around 2100 BCE. Even today, Gilgamesh is considered the commencement dandy masterpiece of globe literature. In fact, much of the Bible parallels this ancient work, furthering emphasizing just how universal and influential Gilgamesh was — and continues to exist today.
In 375 BCE, Plato, the Athenian philosopher, authored The Commonwealth, a dialogue between Socrates and his fellow Greek thinkers, which explores thought-provoking questions about justice, order and the but human being. And, around the eighth century BCE, the landmark epics attributed to the poet Homer, The Odyssey and The Iliad, helped preserve Greek mythology and history in writing.
Literature Helps U.s. Reevaluate Our Worlds
Early on on, literature was contained within poetry and dramatic works — later on all, performing plays was some other nifty source of amusement. During the 11th century, or the Heian menstruation, Japanese noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu penned The Tale of Genji, which is considered the first modern novel by many scholars.
Years later on, in Europe, things started to shift in a meaningful fashion in the wake of Geoffrey Chaucer'south The Canterbury Tales, a collection of 24 stories written in Eye English language betwixt 1387 and 1400. Picking up the prose torch effectually 1485, Thomas Malory published Le Morte d'Arthur, i of the start novels in the Western canon. During the Renaissance, writers like Molière began satirizing everything from the church and regime to order at large, showing that written works had the propensity to shift the balance of power and make people rethink their globe views.
During the 16th century, besides known as the Ming dynasty, the Chinese novel Journey to the Westward was published. Attributed to Wu Cheng'en, this satire- and apologue-filled work is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Around the same fourth dimension, William Shakespeare was helping to lay the foundations of modern English and arts and crafts the literary tropes and story formats nosotros still relish today. And, of course, in 1615 Miguel de Cervantes penned Don Quixote, a romantic, archetypal novel that's considered i of the most influential works of all time.
Literature Gives Folks a Vocalisation and Platform — and Let's Readers Meet Themselves Reflected
Again, information technology's incommunicable to fully encapsulate the breadth of literary history hither. Moreover, this commodity focuses on written works, but information technology's important to note that many cultures and groups of people tape stories through imagery instead — or pass their stories downwardly in oral traditions. All of this to say, our view of literature is a narrow one, and, in many means, limited by the way educational institutions have shaped our understanding of what works are important.
James Simpson, head of Harvard University's English Department, spoke nigh these limitations direct in an open letter to the Wall Street Journal entitled "Great Literature Magnifies Repressed Voices, Ever." For Simpson, the ages-old Western literary catechism, which highlights the literary contributions of white (and often straight) men, "beguile[due south] the fundamental function of literature and other art forms, which is to hear the voices repressed by official forms of a given civilization."
Of course, the literary canon has been refreshed in past, which proves that information technology's important to reshape and rethink the stories we deem essential. For case, at the time of its writing Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter was kind of the scandalous (easily consumable) HBO-like story of the twenty-four hour period. But, now, information technology'south largely considered a probing, essential work — not just amusement. In the wake of Earth State of war I, authors like Virginia Woolf and F. Scott Fitzgerald penned novels, like Mrs. Dalloway and The Groovy Gatsby respectively, that captured their disillusionment first and foremost. However, these proceed to be must-read works due to the style they exemplify craft and storytelling elements. (At least in role.)
More modern literature too ushered in the more formal notion of literary sub-genres, ranging from science fiction — a genre created by Frankenstein author Mary Shelley — to romance, fantasy, and realism. Past retracing certain tropes, conventions and character types, genre helps us understand the way detail stories are shaped by categorizing them.
Without a doubt, literature helps the states uncover — be it an uncovering of the by, a present self, or a possible hereafter. The well-nigh distinguished literary greats, like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Chinua Achebe, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Zadie Smith, and Maggie Nelson (and many, many more folks we don't have the infinite to proper name!), capture all of these facets. In short, by climbing into the minds of other characters and worlds — in stepping outside of ourselves — literature allows us to understand universal truths; change minds; stir empathy; and express our identities and values in lasting, far-reaching ways.
Source: https://www.reference.com/world-view/importance-literature-society-1a66a3cd21a90dd8?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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