【Literary Study】What is literature? Part 2: The distinctive feature of literature

by Mutsuko Takahashi

Speaking of literature, it is a long story for me. Therefore, I divided this topic into two: the former is an overview of my reading history and the latter is focused on the distinctive feature of literature that divides literature and other fields.

In this article, by considering the issue of "What is literature?" in light of the critical difference of literature from other fields, I would seek the significant role of the English Department. Since this is a question that remains to be answered, I will describe my personal opinion by approaching this issue.

The former part of this topic is found at the below link:

What is literature? Part 1: An overview of my reading history - Mutsuko Takahashi BLOG

Literature and Science: Similarities and Differences

In considering similarities and differences between literature and science, it is interesting to note that the professor asked us a question what was the difference between Einstein's paper and literary works; I remember that it was my first class of the first course I took at graduate school in the U.S.

In comparison with science, I believe science and literature are essentially the same at the point of figuratively digging a well. The biggest difference between two is whether the object of research for science is mainly about substance and the human body, and the central theme of literary research is about humanity as a whole. Particularly, literature is the field of study to investigate what is a human being, what is the meaning of life.

 Interpretation of heart in science is the organ, and it is mind in literature.

The common point of science and literature is to discover something. The final purpose of both sides is to find a new discovery based on a certain question; however, those are different at the point of way of research. Science mainly finds its meaning in explaining about causality. In literary works, there is not only the message from the author, but also includes historical, socio-economic background, and the main purpose of literature is to interpret those hidden messages.

Literature is the academic field that purpose is to find the infinite possible interpretation in the texts which consisted of limited signs.

Literary research is to the pursuit of inner universality of a human being. The main purpose is to discover a universal model from investigating a certain law common to various phenomena. Studying literature is to investigate why we live; therefore, without literature, people will stop searching for meaning in life.

Literature's applicability to other fields

It is interesting that literature is actually applied in other fields from such a viewpoint in recent years.

In fact, I am studying literature in the light of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is also devising various concepts from literature. It is now applied even in the medical field. Rita Charon established the relationship between literature and medicine to improve the relationship between doctor and patient.

Nevertheless, this kind of approach has already existed a long time ago. In the nineteenth century, mental science was well-established not only as a domain of medicine but also as a new intellectual discipline. Some researchers emphasize the influential relationship between mind and body in the viewpoint of physiological psychology. Tracing the history, I can see the origin of this idea in humor theory from Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy. According to this theory, excess of black bile was considered to cause melancholia.

Literature as a bridge

I view that literature is a bridge straddle the globe. The role of literary research is to construct a bridge between reader and text and author.

For example, time and society where Shakespeare lived are distant from that of ours, and is a big difference of languages between Shakespearian English and modern English and other languages. Filling the gap in some way, encourage the reader to approach to Shakespeare's text and even Shakespeare himself and leading the reader to interpret, those activities are the purpose of literary study in the English Department.

I think that this kind of literary study is to analyze the tendency of mind, and to quest for people. As for social meaning, it is to cultivate a good heart or to find the way what we should be.

Thus, beyond the various differences, the ability to empathize to others is achieved by the result of studying literature. Acquiring this ability leads to finding a universal model for the various phenomena which I previously mentioned.

Universality presented by literature

In law and the economic field, for example, all the people are regarded as the same individual. The pattern of their activities derived from a certain factor will be abstracted, diagramed, evaluated and formulated. Even after eliminated various kind of complicated elements, the uniqueness of an individual is not considered in the process of searching universality in that case.

In contrast, literature deals with an individual. To explain more detail, I would raise a specific example. Given that there were five people who were killed by some accident, the death would be represented as the number of 5 in the face of statistics. Moreover, in court, the victims' expected lifelong wages may be estimated and the compensation may be paid to their family. If there were victims of similar age and financial background, the amount of money paid to them would not be different. In these fields, those people's death is treated as the same incidents.

On the other hand, for each bereaved family, the sorrow derived from the loss of the loved one must be an absolute fact. Each family member might have a different feeling. Each of those victims should have a different personality and incomparable uniqueness for his/her family without represented by one of five victims. Only literature can describe the uniqueness of each individual, and dramatize the sorrows of people. Literature captures the sadness of the bereaved family as absolute fact, and differentiates the uniqueness of each individual.

Moreover, it allows the reader to share their feeling and thinking. Thus, what can take up the issue that other academic fields omitted is literature. This kind of ability to empathize to others will only be acquired by cultivating the ability of imagination through literary education. That I mentioned thus far is about the significance of literature seen through the lens of humanities.

Considering literature from a socio-historical viewpoint

Now I would raise an example regarding social, historical aspect among literature. For example, the historical fact in the Victorian era can be known from the preceding study and historical records.

However, historical fact written in the books wouldn't fully tell its atmosphere of that age.

How did Victorian people fall in love, and how were they crossed in love? Answer to this question will be found in the words and behind the words by reading Victorian novels, deepening interpretation, and clarifying what kind of backdrop Victorian era had. Moreover, it is not only known by actual description, but it can also be found by the fact which wasn't intentionally written by the reason of "censorship". Such knowledge will not be acquired without deepening through the interpretation of literature.

It is also important as history and the result of the study will greatly contribute to sociology as well. It is important to brush up the power of empathy to others beyond the difference of historical and socio-economic backdrop throughout the ages.

The writer-reader relationship

A literary work is not completed only by the author's writing. It will be completed through the reader's activity of reading, it means that it has been done for the first time in the relationship with a reader. In other words, the literary work which is not read by anyone does not acquire meaning while remaining silent though it involves the potentiality of meaning.

As long as there is some symbolical message behind the words, various kind of interpretations are possible by the reader's background. Because it is impossible to extinguish a room for interpretation no matter how much the author accomplished delicate description, there is a room for research.

Even if the author says "I am not writing with that intention"  to the answer for the question of  "What is the author's intention?",  the literary study doesn't matter what the author actually says outside the text. It is because the "intention of the author" should be found in the given text, regardless of written message or unwritten concept, and is not about the intention of the flesh-and-blood author.

Literature as a communication tool

To approach an interpretation, let us remember that literary works deal with people's inner mind. Using a narrator, the events are dramatized and told by the narrator's voice. Important thing is to be aware that there is a reliable narrator and an unreliable narrator. The story told by an unreliable narrator is actually important, considering the reason why the author uses an unreliable narrator; because, important truth might be hidden under the narrator's unreliable voice.

The readers perceive the world of literary work through their senses. The reasonable tool to convey the concept is language. Literary works reveal how concept felt by senses is verbalized, and poses the question of interpretation how we can read the words; literal meaning, symbolical meaning, and the meaning behind the words.

Moreover, language as a sign can convey slightly different meanings depending on different age groups and different ethnic groups. Since a word has the capability of involving slightly different meanings in different social and age groups, language has fluidity potentially involving a protean aspect. Words contain the potential ambiguity in the tension between the concept and its verbalization. No other academic field that deals with the language art providing such an opportunity to teach the latent ambiguity internalized in a word.

Literature as the window to the world

As I mentioned thus far, literary study is connected with the world through the writer and its work. I have mentioned that the literary study is just like digging the well. The well of literary research will be entangled with other wells as it is investigated deeper and deeper, and will make complicated waterways. It must be dug in the right way, or the wall just collapses and you cannot reach to the depth. After your hard work, the water seemingly looks delicious, but it doesn't accomplish the primary purpose. In order to become delicious water for many people, you have to dig the well with securing an objective viewpoint.

Study of literature and study of science are essentially similar in the sense that the significance deepens as the well is dug deeper. If man's spiritual world spreads out in abyss as the final destination of literary study, one literary research must have a great influence in human society and its great significance will affect beyond the realm of the literary framework.

Literary researcher's effort which aims possible comprehension to spread beyond the realm of its framework, resembles to present the reader with water dug from a well. To provide water which is delicious for most of the people, which is to say that it acquires universal value, the researcher contrives ways to dig and makes an effort to filter the water.

On the other hand, bringing muddy water by saying," you are amateur since you don't understand this delicacy', is nothing but self-satisfaction. I would like to emphasize that literary study is not just an activity to dig a well for only one literary work. The well will function as a splendid well by good well-digger, and the literary well leads deeply to sociology, linguistics, philosophy, etc. in the heart of the well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a literary work is made in response to the influence of the times, and the author is made the same way. Therefore, the research should be carried out liaising with other academic fields; if it shuts itself up in a subdivided frame of literature, the study would have narrow contents.

Both literary work and its writer link to various worlds transcended time and space. When you study people's inner mind, you wouldn't interpret the writer and its literary works without understanding how it links to other subjects. Thus, a literary work doesn't condense only the author's personal inner world, but it also encompasses human activities transcended time and space.

Literary study will contribute to a reader to relive another life or new life through literary texts. Meanwhile, new discoveries will be promoted as research results, and possible interpretations will be provided permanently. I think that the specialized institution to grow this kind of capability is the English department in college education.