The role of literature
"A people's literature is the great text-book for real knowledge of them. The writings of the day show the quality of the people as no historical reconstruction can". According to Hornby's Oxford Dictionary, "literature is the writing or the study of books, valued as works of art". So, literature, first of all, is one of the arts. As Isaak D'Israelis said: "There is an art of reading as well as an art of writing and an of art of thinking". So you can guess that literature is a multisided process. Hence, literature must not just be read, but it must be studied. It means that we are interested not only in information, in what the writer is writing about, but in how he does it. That means to understand the author's inventions and to respond to them and to know his literary devices (his style, his language).
First of all, we are to admit that reading is a two-way process, it is a kind of a dialogue between the author and the reader. A piece of literature doesn't exist until it is being read. Reading is the interaction between the reader and the text. To read means to select bits and pieces and to put them together in a meaningful whole. "How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book". "90% of what you will ever know will come from reading."
Literature is one of the everlasting values of the world and being one of the arts, "literature, - as Pablo Picasso mentioned,- washes away from our souls the dust of everyday life." "People stop thinking, when they stop reading." We read to get some new ideas, to find a meaning after that. For us literature is a code, which we are to decode. "Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree." A book is one of the greatest wonders in the world. It gives us a unique chance to link up with authors who lived hundreds and thousands of years ago. "The function of literature has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves." Thanks to the books, we can talk to people who lived in different ages and countries. Through reading books we hear their voices, thoughts and feelings.
Books are the surest way to bring nations together. They give us an insight not only into the past, but also into the future. "Books expose the flaws of society." A book is a faithful and undemanding friend: it can be put aside and taken up again at any moment." "I can't do without books. My books are friends that never fail me."
Books stirred my imagination, expanded the boundaries of the familiar world and filled my life with great expectations of joy and happiness. Any book let us escape from our immediate surroundings or every day routine into the world of imagination. I would like to comment this idea with a poem "There is no frigate like a book".
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any courses like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll,
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!
So literature provides us with interesting and meaningful input. Interest is the primary goal of literature. And at the same time, literature provides a basis for meaningful output via conversations, discussions and problem solving activities. Literature enhances our understanding of cultural values of any country. Literature is the best possible foundation for success in learning languages. Literary texts are sources of good English. They are the most affective means of expanding vocabulary. Literature encourages appreciation of English as a beautiful language not merely a practical means of communication. Speaking about English literature we are to devide it into 3 main parts, like 3 wales: poetry, drama, prose.
It is a must to say that in their stories writers touch upon various problems such as chaos in society and inside man, duel nature, stupidity and hypocrasy of conventional society. For example, characters of Graham Green have a duel nature, full of doubt and hesitation. They are torn between their faith and the reality of human existence. The cental conflict is between the divine and the human. One of his stories, entitled "I spy", is connected with the nature of the main character. The main point the author is trying to make is that you begin to value smb. only when you lose him. And as for the art of Hector Munro [Saki], in his stories the stupidities and hypocrasy of conventional society are viciously mocked. He satirises the social conventions, cruelty and foolishness of the era. In the story "Tobermory" Saki exposes conventions of society and mockes at them. And as for O'Henry, his stories are centered around the fortunes of the so-called "humble folk": poor New-Yorkers, shop girles, clerks end etc. His sympathies are with common people. I can't help saying some words about the story "The gifts of the magi", that is very typical of O'Henry. He touches upon such an important problem as love and life of people in poverty. The main characters sacrificed their treasures for love. Even the gifts of the magi were not so valuable as their life.
