What is LITERATURE | 1

Lesson 1. Literature and Its Nature

Specific Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. define and explain the nature of literature;
2. internalize the importance of literature and the reasons for studying it;
3. discuss the universal values of literature;
4. identify the elements of literature;
5. distinguish the three divisions of literature and their subclassifications; and
6. explain the different approaches in studying literature.

Activity 1
WHAT IS LITERATURE?

Study the following quotations which describe literature. As you read them, think about the following questions.

a. Which definition(s) do you reject? Why?

b. Which definition conforms most closely to your idea of what literature is? Why?

Literature is the question minus the answer.

Roland Barthes
Literature, fiction, poetry, whatever, makes justice in the world. That’s why it is almost always on the
side of the underdog.
Grace Paley
Medicine is my lawful wife. Literature is my mistress.
Anton Chekhov
Literature is just like nature. If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. Thus, literature is
everywhere.
Vincent Van Gogh
Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity.
Rebecca West
Literature is without proofs by which it must be understood that it cannot prove, not only what it says,
but even that it is worth the trouble of saying it.
Ronald Barthes
Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the sense shuts me out from the
sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or
awkwardness.
Helen Keller
Literature…the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of all professions.
John Morley
Literature returns you to otherness, whether in yourself or in friends, or in those who may become
friends. Imaginative literature is otherness and as such alleviates loneliness.
Harold Bloom
The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist)
Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human
spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.
Salman Rushdie (Indian born British Writer)
Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds it to its purpose….
Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic)
Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or anything else, is always a portrait of
himself, and the more he tries to conceal himself the more clearly will his character appear in spite of
him.
Samuel Butler (English novelist, essayist and critic)
The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.
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Margaret Atwood (Canadian Writer)

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
Ezra Pound (American Editor, Poet, Translator and Critic)
When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not
achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language.
James Earl Jones
The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.
Elizabeth Drew (American Writer)

WHY STUDY LITERATURE?

"You look for your own story in literature; it's one of the best mechanisms you have
to convince yourself you're not alone."

1. To give pleasure and enjoyment. “Dulce” (Horace). Literature has the infinite capacity to delight no
matter if the subject is unpleasant because of the author’s employment of language and his
craftsmanship.

2. To instruct and elevate. “Utile” (Horace). It is a useful or an instructive art form. Literature embraces and
illuminates life. There is something in it that will make us pause and think.

Four processes relative to its utile function:

a. Recreation – an author reorders reality to suit his vision of the world. We also go through the
recreative process as we experience this reality.
b. Recognition – we find something of ourselves and the relationships we establish with the rest of
creation. Because literature mirrors life, we recognize ourselves in it.
c. Revelation – human events give us baselines for introspection or epiphany, the dawning of light
and truth, a revelation of insights of human condition.
d. Redemption – the insights learned help us modify our actions into ways more acceptable and
admirable, make sense out of life and face its trials for the development of values.

 Effect on society: How relevant is literature to the changing demands of society?

Literature has responded to change in different ages and cultures. It brings a host of social,
economic and moral problems and mirrors how people achieve changes, how relevant these
changes are, and how people adapt to them. In short, it reflects a growing sense of responsibility.

Activity 2
FUNCTIONS OF LITERATURE

Read the following text and perform the tasks below.

Does the text satisfy the functions (dulce and utile) of literature?
1. In what way does the text delight you?
2. How does the text satisfy the utile function of literature?
a. What reality is recreated by the author in the text?
b. Can you identify with this reality?
c. What insights can you gain about the conditions created for you by the author?
d. In what way or ways can these insights help you in your life?
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Ballad of a Mother's Heart

by Jose la Villa Sierra

The night was dark, for the moon was young

And the stars were asleep and rare;
The clouds were thick, yet Youth went out
To see his Maiden fair.

“Dear One,” he pleaded as he knelt

Before her feet, in tears,
“My love is true; why have you kept
Me waiting all these years?”

The maiden looked at him unmoved,

It seemed, and whispered low:
“Persistent Youth, you have to prove
By deeds your love is true.”

“There’s not a thing I would not do

For you, Beloved,” said he.
“Then go,” said she, “to your mother dear,
And bring her heart to me.”

Without another word, Youth left

And went to his mother dear,
And opened her breast and took her heart.
He did not shed a tear!

Then back to his Maiden fair he ran,

Unmindful of the rain;
But his feet slipped and down he fell
And loud he groaned with pain.

Still in his hand he held the prize

That would win his Maiden’s hand;
And he thought of his mother dear
So kind, so sweet, so fond.

And then he heard a voice, not from

His lips but all apart:
“Get up,” it said; “were you hurt, Child?”
It was his mother’s heart.

Activity 3
IDENTIFYING LITERARY TEXTS

Here is a number of different texts. Read through each one and decide whether or not you think it is a literary
text. If not, then think about where the text might have come from. Note down any language in the text which
helped you to make your decision.

1. Since the earliest history of mankind, religion and medicine have been intertwined. In some cultures, the
priest and the medicine man were one and the same person. Praying for and over the sick is one of the
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oldest religious practices in the world. The Bible gives us many passages about the interaction between
medicine and religion.
2. Life is the unknown and the unknowable, except that we are put into this world to eat, to stay alive as
long as we possibly can.
3. With the diva’s spiraling notes, the ballad concludes. The crowd cheers and screams in applause. An
avalanche of balloons, tinsel, and confetti rains down from the roof.
4. Deep in her heart, however, she was waiting for something to happen. Like a shipwrecked sailor she
kept desperate watch over the lonely horizon of her life, hoping that in the distance some white sail
might appear out of the mist.
5. It cooks cheaply and briskly. It is lightweight and fits any kitchen décor. It does not emit smoke or odor.
Though it looks much like most of the other old fashion ovens, it does not sit on a stove nor use fire to
function… This modern invention, the microwave oven, cooks in an unconventional way.
6. One weakness will engender another.
7. A mother will shield the worst son from harm as a hen will spread her wings over the most wayward of
her brood.
8. Three grey geese in a field grazing;
Grey were the geese and green was the grazing.
9. Today, everywhere, we see the results of the widespread massive use of antibiotics. Under antibiotic
selective pressure, resistant strains have emerged “victorious” in the world of microbial competition.
10. For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

UNIVERSAL LITERARY VALUES

Universal values in art are those which have been gleaned from literature, history, culture, civilization, mores,
etc. that apply to the content of the work of art as communicators of universal significance. Particular values are
those peculiar to the genre. These are evaluative criteria that measure the aesthetic value of a given literary
piece. They are outstanding value characteristics common to works of the same form; therefore, they are
gleaned from a broad area of appreciated work in any given form.

Among these universal values according to Andrew Long are: artistry, intellectual value, emotional value,
moral or spiritual value (which includes social, political, and ethical), permanence, and universality.

1. Artistry. The art work is in its plainest sense an expression of some experience in a form which emphasizes
the beautiful in the selected materials that have been articulated in a certain style and technique. Articulation
should result in the creation of a clear, harmonious, and integrated objective art form.

2. Intellectual Value. Every artist, it must be assumed, is stimulated by his conception of a fundamental truth
when he creates his work of art. It is this truth which he objectifies so that it may reach his audience in a familiar
form. When such a truth explains or clarifies an aspect of the human condition such that this leads the
appreciator to a thoughtful realization of its import and impact on his outlook as a human being, the work of art is
said to reflect an intellectual value. In other words, it becomes a source for the appreciator who is expected to
arrive at a synthesis of what he realizes from the apprehension and comprehension of the work of art
confronting him.

3. Emotional Value. Since the aesthetic attitude is ultimately satisfied by what the appreciator can feel, the
work of art must be capable of exciting an emotional response. It is this emotional reaction which normally
makes the work of art impressive to the beholder. When it evokes sympathetic feelings in the reader, the work of
art ordinarily succeeds in instilling pleasure in the appreciator who is after all predisposed to find his enjoyment
in art appreciation. A short story, for instance, could evoke strong emotional responses in the appreciator
through its vivid characterization of the personae assigned to carry out the plot. The reader is likely to identify
himself with those he could recognize as encouraging predicaments similar to his (reader’s).
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4. Moral or Spiritual Value. Critics like Babbitt, Eliot, and the earlier Tolstoi have measured significant literature
in terms of how it would explain life and how to cope with it in the light of human limitations. In fact, the moral
approach in literature is the oldest mode of appreciation. Aristotle discourses on this in his Poetics when he
points out that “no man can be a good poet, unless he is a good man,” and that poetry was used by the Greek
teachers to correct a pupil’s morals.

The ethical value of literature rests on its explanation or depiction of the good and moral life --- that man’s
behavior in coping with life’s appurtenances is consistent to his rational nature; i.e., he is equipped with a free
will to decide on the most reasonable manner of living with himself and his neighbors. He may decide to be
good or bad; but for the depiction of that situation to be ethically worthwhile, he must be truthful and faithful to
the complete nature of man --- that while he is capable of goodness, he, too, can be bad. But if the dissolute and
the corrupt must be depicted at all, they must be shown as afflictions which need reformation according to
natural law that governs man and his actuations.

The sociological/political value is reflected in situations which describe man and his relationship with his
fellow human beings. Depiction of social orders that may be meaningful to the appreciator because he
subscribes to their conditions and promises, are indices for the appreciator who is after social truths in art.

5. Permanence. Great literature has been known to be timeless. They have defied the imperatives of Time (that
things grow old and become passé) so that they continue to be readable even in contemporary times. For
instance, Shakespeare’s dramas have become classics perhaps because they celebrate the elemental verities
about man and his lifestyle. True, the settings may be in another time and in another place far removed from
where the reader may be, but the characters and the plots are as constant as human nature.

Shakespeare dealt with human problems which are intimately linked with man’s constant preoccupation --- the
business of staying alive, the snares of human passion, the aberrations of instincts gone haywire, the lot, which
have really not changed much since that time until the present. They are still the same problems plaguing man.
Great literature, when read, comes up alive in any clime, at any time, in any place. In all occasions, they do not
fail to regale man with their relevance.

6. Universality. Some of the best compositions in other languages come to us in translations. Although we
realize that a lot is taken away from their enjoyment because they do not reach us with the original flavor and
vigor of the language in which they were first written, we still marvel at the power with which they jolt us.
They may be about other people, other voices, but they do not cease to be meaningful. It is quite easy to realize
that they have become the property of mankind because they depict man as a universal being, afflicted by the
same pains wherever he may be; only the accidents differ --- the substance is man. Such epics as Homer’s
“Iliad” and “Odyssey”, the “Song of Roland” and others have become part of the universal fabric of literary
treasures --- they have even surfaced in other forms, but with the same substance, in other countries other than
their land of origin.

It is this value which often stands out when critics, using the totemic or archetypal approach, unearth universal
patterns of man, as well as traces of the Jungian “universal unconscious (which shows) that civilized man
preserves though unconsciously those pre-historical areas of knowledge which he articulated obliquely in myth.”

It is also this value which explains why legends and myths retain their attractiveness even when the
superstitions around them have already withered in the vine.

7. Style/Individuality. A writer reveals his personality, his personal beliefs, ideologies, and technique in his
work. This makes it easy for a reader to identify a work through the use of language, themes, and structures
used in a certain a work.

In brief, these universal values of literature answer the query in valuation: Is the work of art universally valuable?
Is it good literature? All of these values refer to the content of the work of art.
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Activity 4
UNIVERSAL VALUES OF LITERATURE

Discuss the merits of the following work using the universal values of literature.

in the dark depths

jose ma. sison

The enemy wants to bury us

In the dark depths of prison
But shining gold is mined
From the dark depths of the earth.
And the radiant pearl is dived
From the dark depths of the sea.
We suffer but one endure
And draw up gold and pearl
From the dark depths of character
Formed so long in struggle.

in confidence
jose palma y velasquez

You love and she loves you: how happy are you two!
I, too, have a love in my soul
But she does not know it – No!
You love her and she loves you,
What else can you desire?
I love her and yet she does not know it.
Can you imagine such state of unhappiness?

The ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

The ingredients of literature each indicate a certain method of approaching literature, provide an avenue of entry
into the totality of the literary work and will help you evaluate critically, yet effectively the merits and demerits of
the individual literary genre as a whole.

1. Subject. Any literature is about something and for this reason, it has a subject.
Levels of Subject Treatment:
1. Reveals us about the subject by giving description of it.
2. Identify generalizations drawn from the description of human situations, conditions, or behavior.
3. Examine the human condition and system of values the topic of the piece deals with. It involves
understanding the value of a genre.
2. Form. The vehicle used by literature to communicate its subject. It is the verbal and artistic structuring
of ideas. Traditionally, form is described in terms of stanzas, rhyme, meter, arrangement of incidents in
a plot for novel, and development and sequence of ideas for the essay. Form, too, is nothing but the
arousal and satisfaction of man’s appetite (Kenneth Burke).

Why is there a need to pay attention to the form? It is primarily because the work of art is, in large part,
an aesthetically shaped structure. If the form is ignored then the delight inherent in the world of art is
missed too.
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3. Point-of-View. It traditionally means the angle of vision of the narrator. It also means the tone of
utterance or the sense that the reader gains of the author’s attitude toward the subject.

Activity 5
THE ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

Discuss the following poem using the elements of literature.

TINY FEET: Gabriela Mistral

A child’s tiny feet,

Blue, blue with cold,
How can they see and not protect you?
Oh, my God!

Tiny wounded feet,

Bruised all over by peddles,
Abused by snow and soil!

Man, being blind, ignores

That where you step, you leave
A blossom of bright light,
That where you have placed
Your bleeding little soles
A redolent tuberose grows.
Since, however, you walk
Through the streets so straight
You are courageous, without fault.

Child’s tiny feet,

Two suffering little gems,
How can the people pass, unseeing?

THE PARABLE OF THE DEAF AND THE BLIND: Juan M. Flavier

THE barrio lad was born completely blind and totally deaf. For as long as he could remember. He lived in
a world of darkness and silence.
Almost like an over-compensation, he evolved a supersensitive sense of touch. He could tell, as if he had
a radar antenna, the presence of persons or things and exactly where they stood.
By sheer memory, he had a mental view of their hut. He could walk around effortlessly without bumping
into anything. He knew there were two narra chairs facing each other with a small table in between. On the table
was a knitted tablecloth on which rested a glass vase with plastic flowers. To the side was a window throughout
which the cool barrio breeze streamed.
On one wall he knew there were shelves which displayed various statuettes and little ceramic pieces. In
the corner was a cabinet (tokador) with a glass door. Past the wall was their bedroom.
On one side was the bamboo stairs with five rungs leading to the dining area and kitchen.
Many times, he would wonder about the colored appearance of the world around him. He imagined what
the actual sounds were of the vibrations he felt made by the people and things inside and outside the hut.
One day, the barrio lad knelt and prayed. “My Creator, I do not mean to complain. But I am just so curious
about the sights and sounds which I am not privileged to experience. I pray for You to please let me see and
hear even just for one day.”
In a flash, the young man was stunned by the flood of glaring light and sharp sounds. He marveled at the
play of colors outside the window — the lush trees and the bright blue sky. The voices of people, the barking of
dogs, the roar of tricycles... all pierced his eardrums like never before. Everything seemed exciting and
pleasurable.
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But then he began to see and hear too much. He was particularly bothered by the measure of unkind
words. Of arguments filled with hate and enmity. Parents berating their wailing children. Women crying in
despair. Young men cursing.
He was unsettled by the poverty around the barrio. Many huts were dilapidated and unkempt. By the
wayside were heaps of garbage. He was witness for the first time to the cruelty that men do to fellow men.
He knelt down once more and prayed, “My Creator, thank you for your positive reply to my petition. But
now please give me back my piece of mind in my dark and quiet life. In a world such as this, I prefer to be deaf
and blind.

Activity 6
DEFINITION OF LITERATURE

Below is a more comprehensive definition of literature. Explain the key words in the text to further your
understanding of literature.

LITERATURE consists of those works which interpret the meanings of life and nature in words of charm
and power touched with the personality of the author in artistic forms of permanent interest.

LITERARY CRITICISM

Why should we interpret literature?

Literary Criticism: Map

Literary Criticism: Map

prepared by Skylar Hamilton Burris

Map Explanation:

The work itself is placed in the center because all approaches must deal, to some extent or another, with the
text itself. Formalism and deconstruction are placed here also because they deal primarily with the text and not
with any of the outside considerations such as author, the real world, audience, or other literature. Meaning,
formalists argue, is inherent in the text. Because meaning is determinant, all other considerations are irrelevant.
Deconstructionists also subject texts to careful, formal analysis; however, they reach an opposite conclusion:
there is no meaning in language.
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A historical approach relies heavily on the author and his world. In the historical view, it is important to
understand the author and his world in order to understand his intent and to make sense of his work. In this
view, the work is informed by the author's beliefs, prejudices, time, and history, and to fully understand the work,
we must understand the author and his age.

An intertextual approach is concerned with comparing the work in question to other literature, to get a broader
picture.

Reader-Response is concerned with how the work is viewed by the audience. In this approach, the reader
creates meaning, not the author or the work.

Mimetic criticism seeks to see how well a work accords with the real world.

Then, beyond the real world are approaches dealing with the spiritual and the symbolic--the images connecting
people throughout time and cultures (archetypes). This is mimetic in a sense too, but the congruency looked for
is not so much with the real world as with something beyond the real world--something tying in all the
worlds/times/cultures inhabited by man.

The Psychological approach is placed outside these poles because it can fit in many places, depending how it
is applied:
(1) Historical if diagnosing the author himself
(2) Mimetic if considering if characters are acting by "real world" standards and with recognizable psychological
motivations
(3) Archetypal when the idea of the Jungian collective unconscious is included
(4) Reader-Response when the psychology of the reader--why he sees what he sees in the text--is examined.

Likewise, Feminist, Minority, Marxist, and other such approaches may fit in:
(1) Historical if the author's attitudes are being examined in relation to his times (i.e. was Shakespeare a feminist
for his times, though he might not be considered so today?)
(2) Mimetic--when asking how well characters accord with the real world. Does a black character act like a black
person would, or is he a stereotype? Are women being portrayed accurately? Does the work show a realistic
economic picture of the world?

Activity 7. Evaluate the poem below using at least 3 of the literary/critical approaches.

When I See a Barong-Barong

Maximo Ramos

When I see a barong-barong neighborhood in the heart of war-torn Manila;

When I behold beside the Pasig sudden lean-tos defended against sun and rain with salvaged sheets of tin;
When I take a truck ride through Suburbia and find nipa huts clustered within the shell-punched walls of former
mansions of stone –
I do not look away in shame or throw up my hands despairing for my people.
I fill my chest with the bracing breeze of this my country and say:
Though my race has been pushed around in his own land for nearly half a thousand years,
Though my people have been double-crossed again and again by foreigners,
Though my race has been pitted against themselves down the centuries;
I joy to discover that they are whole and remained unbroken in spirit;
Building them makeshift huts of nipa and salvaged tin and standing straight with heads against the stars.

Unfamiliar terms: lean-tos – a roughly made building; pitted – opposed; makeshift – improvised; salvaged –
saved; suburbia – borders (ant.: center)