The Role of Literature in Cultural and Society Development
The Role of Literature in Cultural and Society Development
Jibran Khalil Jibran once said, “All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”
It is in everyone, it’s locked away, hidden and for the gifted, it comes out to give us the very languages we are using today. Literature, like music and film and theatre, is an art. As a matter of fact the purest form of art. Life, for many if not all, in scales that vary is pretty much the same journey measured by experiences, fortune, luck and love. We cannot all express them in a poetic or artistic manner but we all experience them nonetheless. Most of us go through this wicked and unmerciful thing called life without ever being able to express those fortunate moments and hardships to others and more importantly to ourselves. We have reached an age where generations no longer pay mind to literature in a direct and hands on way. The new generation, including myself, doesn’t explore the poet within, as cliché as this may sound. Speeches from our presidents and world leaders don’t sound like they were fabricated from something real. They were written by politicians and campaign specialists whose aim is to shock and awe, but sadly with facts and numbers, not with the humane and sentimental approach for which speeches and words were meant. The role of literature in society is to help enhance our way of thinking and perceiving our surroundings. It heightens our level of expression and speaking. You simply become that much more articulate and creative! Almost every book or novel that we read results in a push to our perception of life.
In Milton Albrecht's "The Relationship of Literature and Society", he adequately states that literature "reflects" society; its supposed converse is that literature influences or "shapes" society. On a daily basis we come across some kind of literary event. Something you could write a poem about, maybe even a book. More often than not they are overlooked, but it’s
Jibran Khalil Jibran once said, “All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”
It is in everyone, it’s locked away, hidden and for the gifted, it comes out to give us the very languages we are using today. Literature, like music and film and theatre, is an art. As a matter of fact the purest form of art. Life, for many if not all, in scales that vary is pretty much the same journey measured by experiences, fortune, luck and love. We cannot all express them in a poetic or artistic manner but we all experience them nonetheless. Most of us go through this wicked and unmerciful thing called life without ever being able to express those fortunate moments and hardships to others and more importantly to ourselves. We have reached an age where generations no longer pay mind to literature in a direct and hands on way. The new generation, including myself, doesn’t explore the poet within, as cliché as this may sound. Speeches from our presidents and world leaders don’t sound like they were fabricated from something real. They were written by politicians and campaign specialists whose aim is to shock and awe, but sadly with facts and numbers, not with the humane and sentimental approach for which speeches and words were meant. The role of literature in society is to help enhance our way of thinking and perceiving our surroundings. It heightens our level of expression and speaking. You simply become that much more articulate and creative! Almost every book or novel that we read results in a push to our perception of life.
In Milton Albrecht's "The Relationship of Literature and Society", he adequately states that literature "reflects" society; its supposed converse is that literature influences or "shapes" society. On a daily basis we come across some kind of literary event. Something you could write a poem about, maybe even a book. More often than not they are overlooked, but it’s