Writing about literature allows the reader to interact with and become a part of the story, as well as further their understanding of the work. A writer doesn't write and publish something if he doesn't plan for it to be read. Therefore, I believe that the piece is incomplete until it has been read. However, by writing and criticizing a piece of literature, the reader is becoming a part of the process by assigning their own meanings and interpretations to the work. This is what literary criticism does. It allows for the reader to put a voice to their reading of the literature.
There are many different forms of literary criticism but overall it has become an analysis of the work and its literary value. Criticism generally involves careful reading and rereading of a work in order to pick out specific details and analyze both the meaning of the text and how these specific details contribute to the text's meaning, in order to come to a general understanding of the text. However, people's conclusions and the processes they use vary tremendously. Some critics focus on the text itself and how it contributes meaning while others focus on their responses as a reader and the responses the author wishes to create. Therefore, two critics analyzing the same text could come to contradictory conclusions, yet both can still be valid.
I think that the function of literature is to allow the reader a place where they can escape from their own life and transcend space and time. It allows the reader to experience many things mentally that they could not experience physically. A person can travel to an exotic country without ever leaving their couch. Literature opens up a door to other worlds that broaden the reader's perspective and gives them new insights on life. When I'm reading a literary work, I look for something that will give me new experiences and understanding in a fulfilling even if not necessarily enjoyable way.
My favorite line that you wrote, Nina, has to be that "the piece is incomplete until it has been read." There is something so utterly simple about this sentence but stirs something up in me. I feel as though I'm forced to play devil's advocate and ask: is it not possible for a writer to write simply for the joy of writing? You mentioned that you read to take you to another place, so could it be that a writer writes for similar reasons? I feel as though you're saying that reading a piece of literature is expected, but analyzing it critically is the equivalent of extra credit. I agree with, but find myself wanting and needing to dig deeper.
ReplyDeleteIn a way the things that we look for when reading a literary work are the same in that we both think that the literature should make us reach some fundamental understanding.
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