Photo : Collected
Literature is called the mirror of society. It is simply the summation of life as it covers all related to life and so on. Reading literature is also important for understanding the profound arenas of life. Literature is a piece of writing where aesthetic excellence and imagination express mass-accepted ideas and world interest. Literature has mainly four genres drama, poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction. They may be different from each other in terms of literary measurements but they all have the same motto which is to persuade, inform, and entertain.
Reading literature has a number of benefits so far. It ultimately enhances our area of thinking as well as enlightens our critical thinking capacity. The utmost benefits that literature offers us are as follows;
Literature Enhances Communication Skills:
Communication is a combination of certain elements like language, and norms of using words, sentences and expressions on the basis of the situation. Literature combines them all with its vast varieties. One who studies literature must be rich in terms of communication; because it provides a range of clear ideas on how people of different ages communicate. This broadens the knowledge and skills of communication. Such as when a person has clear knowledge of how the British community communicates and what are their dialects, common jargon, slang and register then it becomes so easy to communicate. That’s why studying literature makes a person super-efficient in communication. For instance, “A Light Exists in Spring” by Emily Dickinson provides a bunch of vocabulary and linkers that are extremely efficient for communication.
Exploring Ideas Through Literature:
Ideas are mainly generated through a variety of methods such as brainstorming, mind mapping, journaling, and storyboarding. Here literature gets a bigger hand due to its enormous collection of great ideas of great authors like Homer, Euripides, Milton, Aeschylus, Shakespeare and so on through their fictional characters. A person who has studied “Iliad, Agamemnon” must know the importance of apology, the attitude of a leader to his soldiers & familial bonds. Also, aware of the consequences of anger and revenge. These are the need to have qualities or knowledge to bring something (idea) different from the earlier, different from the people or community who don’t study literature. It influences our mind to generate ideas that are lifelike and beneficial for mankind because literature doesn’t teach massacre but rather a vivid picture of reality, peace, moral lesson and projected future. This way a person gains the capabilities to squeeze something novel from his Right-hemisphere.
Literature Shapes Our Thinking:
The human thinking process goes through a variety of aspects like asking questions, curiosity, argument, analysing information, reverse thinking considering consequences etc. Literature gives you the opportunity to ask questions on the cross-current situation through the activities of the characters. It makes you able to analyze the facts and helps to present a valid judgement. If we study Matthew Arnold’s “The Study of Poetry”, and T.S Eliot’s “The Metaphysical Poets”, Sir. Philip Sidney’s “An Apology for Poetry”, and Edward Said’s “Introduction to Culture and Imperialism” we will be able to get the notion of valid argument, reverse thinking and analyzing information and how these should be formed. So, in this way of providing limitless knowledge literature shapes our thinking.
Literature Broadens Wisdom:
Wisdom comes through Self-knowledge, understanding of others, judgement, life knowledge, life skills, and willingness to learn; literature provides altogether. Specially the Classic writings are abundant in moral principles, differences between good and evil, ancient culture and their norms. Reading Classics, we gain a clear insight into our own life and nature. And the best wisdom is to ‘Know Thyself’ which literature does better than anything in this eternal world. “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë, “The Iliad” by Homer, “And Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky studying these classics broadens a clear picture of self-recognition, the real norms of living life, discern what is appropriate what is not and the injustice and consequences.
Entertaining Capabilities of Literature:
Literature provides new experiences at a safe distance where there is no disturbance while enjoying the literary imaginative world. Literature opens the door to escapism where bitter reality doesn't exist. Those fictional characters and engaging stories are the core source of joy for the readers. Reading comedies makes you laugh; tragicomedies give you mixed feelings which reside near to reality. Poems of Wordsworth, Keats, and Coleridge are the medium of experiencing completely a new dimension of entertainment. Cause it makes you feel distant from the dizziness of city life, bitter experiences of real life, chaos, numbness, fear of failure and so on. On the other hand, comedy plays of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It” Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Henrik Ibsen’s “Love's Comedy” are the source of legit laughter, happiness, wholesomeness. Thus, literature is an absolute source of entertainment and aesthetic pleasure.
In conclusion, literature not only provides aesthetic pleasure but also makes individuals skilled in communication, enhances wisdom, shapes the thought process to a high standard, develops novel ideas and broadens wisdom. Across its diverse genres of drama, poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction, literature holds the unified aim of persuasion, information dissemination, and entertainment. In essence, literature offers a new lens through which we can experience a new world and the core identity of humans that for sure enriches our lives.
Asif Ahamed
A student of English Dept. of Govt. Michael Madhusudan Collage, Jashore
Messenger/Sajib
