Much. Khoiri

In this chapter you are introduced to the nature of literature, genres in literature, trends in literature, and some key terms in literary interpretation. By reading through this chapter, you are expected to get across a clear understanding about literature and its scope so as to help you learn how to interpret, appreciate, and/or criticize literary works as that will be presented in the next chapters.

The Nature of Literature

You might have often read novels or poems in your spare time, and can share them with your teachers, parents, or friends. It seems you are familiar with those works, as if you know enough of what they are. Yet, you might need to think over when you are addressed a question, “Is what you read a piece of literature?” At this point you might just realize that the works you are familiar with cannot always be put in a simple definition. The question, “What is literature?” can result in a variety of definitions amongst you. The next question, “What qualities must a written or spoken work posses to be classified as literature?” can probably lead you to a benign confusion.

Let us now learn what literature is. What do we talk about when we talk about literature? Many believe that all literature is a verbal art-form, but this, in itself, is not a complete definition. What, for instance, is to stop a well-written history book from being an art-form, or where is the distinction between works that are classified under the heading of “fiction”, and utilitarian works of scientific value that make no pretensions of being true literature? (Bentley, 1972: 194).

People may perceive a difference between "literature" and some popular forms of written work. The terms "literary fiction" and "literary merit" serve to distinguish between individual works. Critics may exclude works from the classification "literature," for example, on the grounds of a poor standard of grammar and syntax, of an unbelievable or disjointed story-line, or of inconsistent or unconvincing characters.

One of the earliest known literary works is the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem dated around 2100 B.C., which deals with themes of heroism, friendship, loss, and the quest for eternal life. Different historical periods have emphasized various characteristics of literature. Early works often had an overt or covert religious or didactic purpose. Moralizing or prescriptive literature stems from such sources. The exotic nature of romance flourished from the Middle Ages onwards, whereas the Age of Reason manufactured nationalistic epics and philosophical tracts.

There is no doubt a close relationship between the various art forms, not only in subject matter, but also in underlying principles and formal qualities. Music and poetry are obvious examples, as there is music in the sounds of poetry, and many poems were written originally for musical accompaniment. In addition, painting is closely related to poetry in its pictorial qualities, the artist using the elements of color, contrast, atmosphere, etc., in the same way as the writer. Likewise, novels of today are presented in a similar way as ancestors told their local legends or ballads.

Perhaps it is necessary for you to consider some experts’ claims into account. As cited by Bentley (1972:194), Yelland, Jones, and Easton claim that “literature is writing which has a purpose beyond the merely supply of information and which is marked by artistic form, as it makes distinction between material that is merely instructive and that which has artistic purpose.” Long claims it as “the expression of life in words of truth and beauty; it is the written record of man’s spirit, of his thoughts, emotions, aspirations; it is the history, and the only history of the human soul.” Similarly, Hudson regards it as “fundamentally as an expression of life through the medium of language.”

To get a clearer understanding, let us take a piece of literature, Langston Hughes’ poem “Dreams”, as a standpoint.

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

As you learn Hughes’ poem, you may note that it was written with a purpose beyond the merely supply of information and is marked by artistic form, as it is different from an accident report released on the dailies. As a piece of literary work, the poem is indeed Hughes’ record and expression of man’s spirit, thoughts, emotions, and aspirations in words of truth and beauty. It is also part of the American history which records the African-American people’s calls for struggle. Moreover, Hughes represents his spirit, thoughts, emotions, and aspirations through the medium of language.

From this poem, you may infer several points. First, the poem was created by a human being. Hughes is indeed a human being, serving as an artist. Second, what material was used to write it? It is about human being too. Hughes wrote it when the African-Americans were social-politically inferior in the United States, and devoted to them to struggle for justice. Hughes took the title as dreams always belong to humankind and, in this sense, could be rooted from human life and experiences. Third, is the poem only a direct portrait of human life? It is perhaps better to say that the poem is an abstraction of human life and experiences, with the poet’s imagination in his sublime creative process. Next, the poem reflects its message and aesthetic language use. Last, with such a potential, it may call you for taking its use when you read it: for enjoyment only or for understanding too.

Thus, from the above elaboration, despite the vast varieties of definition, you can probably infer that literature may have such characteristics as (1) man’s creation; (2) abstraction of human life and experiences, (3) the use of (written and/or oral) language as the medium of expression, (4) the representation of truth and beauty or aesthetic values; (5) being useful for enjoyment and understanding. In other words, if you find a work which fulfills these characteristics, you may call it as a piece of literature.

Such characteristics, the ones so far widely-accepted, may also apply to Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Robert Burns’ “A Red, Red Rose”, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, Naguib Mahfouz’ Middaq Alley, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, or William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, or Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. These works of poetry, prose fiction, and drama—the three main literary genres—were created more or less in the same way; they also talk about human life and experiences.

Beside those written pieces of literature, you also need to recognize “oral literature.” The term ‘oral literature’ refers not to written, but to oral traditions, which includes different types of epic, poetry and drama, folktales, ballads, legends, jokes, and other genres of folklore. It exists in every society, whether literate or not. It has been passed from generation to another, and, thus, they memorize it well. In Javanese culture, for instance, many people are still familiar enough with Sunan Kalijaga and Sunan Giri’s Ilir-Ilir. In this sense oral literature is well rooted, particularly, in traditional or transitional societies. It is probably a unique artifact. It is therefore generally studied by folklorists, or by scholars committed to cultural studies and ethnopoetics, including linguists, anthropologists, and even sociologists. (To be continued...).