Literature Essay- Important for all students

Literature means an expression of individual and social life and thought through language. The connection between literature and life is both important and vital. Its subject-matter and treatment are of general human interest; the expression is always emotive as the thought gives aesthetic pleasure and satisfaction.

Its universal appeal: Literature has its universal appeal. It does not like to deal with any particular society but with society as a whole. Literature that appealed to people through the spoken word had a greater appeal than that which appeals through the written word--- which may not reach all men. Literature must have social functions.

Art for art's sake, pursuits of pure beauty through art, the creation of a literary or artist's masterpiece as an end in Itself---- are now falling into disfavor. Great literature must always serve the need and necessity of people. It always voices their Inmost desires and noblest aspirations. In the second place, by drawing the attention of people to the emerging truths of life, and thought.

That is what Walt Whitman meant when he said that the object of literature is " to free arouse dilate the human mind". its Literature, in this sense, must emancipate the mind from limitations, arouse it to be a consciousness of the dynamic urge of life.

Some restrictions: There is a restriction of modern literature. Its restricted appeal resulted from the dependence of writers on the patronage of high-born persons. Necessarily such writers had to produce work that would appeal to their patrons primarily. As a result, their range became limited.

Chaucer was a much richer writer/artist; his insight into life was also very profound; but he lacked the spontaneity, the range, the popular appeal of the ballad writers that of the ballads of "Mymensingh Geetika".

Modern writers have developed a flair for expressions, feelings, and situations that are subtle and complex in languages. English writers Wordsworth, realized this and heightened speech of the trustees. The more literature is free from its class limitations and becomes the vehicles of the thoughts and feelings of the common men, the working people, the more will attend to become popular and public.

Hence in modern times, our conception of the depth of literature is not related to this doctrine of eternal truths. We try rather to understand the forces behind these social changes. Therefore, with regard to literature, our idea of its value depends on the extension of life. Great literature always grasps and reflects these truths of life that emerge triumphant out of the ruins of the past.

Literature with real life: Literature should not be confounded with sociology, philosophy, psychology, religion etc. though these give substance and depth to literature. It may or may not impart knowledge, religious or moral instructions in a direct way. Its theme may be of a social problem or political revolution or religious movement; but it may, with equal justification, be an individual's passion, problem or fantasy. But the object is not so much to teach as to delight.

Books are regarded as literature and bring us into some relation with real life. Once the deepest things in life are these that deal with what was called the eternal varieties of life. The ideas of certain moral virtues were supposed to be eternal But experience and a wider knowledge of the changing conditions of social life have shaken man's faith in the unchangeableness of such concepts. Ideas always change with those conditions which are not static. People have different ideas of the God-head.com

Some examples: The recited epics of Homer----The acted pays of reading of "Mangala Kabya" had a much more extended appeal than our modern poets and novelists who expresses the only segment of social life.

Poetry that expresses intensely individual views and sentiments, novels that depict the manners of a limited class of community or deal highly with specialized problems, cannot surely be of the same leave as is Tulsidas' Ramcharitramanas or Kritibạs' Ramayana which had and still have a mass appeal. This also led Aristotle, the then great philosopher, to affirm that the subject of poetry lies in human action. Hence, literature and life are closely related. ..

Conclusion: Literature mainly centers around man's life. These two things literature and life are closely related with each other. No literature can be regarded as literature in the truest sense if it deals with a particular class having no mass appeal.

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