What Is Literature?

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While most people refer to Shakespeare as literature, they do not consider The Simpsons literature. Which features discriminate Shakespeare and The Simpsons? Both of them are a written work, which has its own purpose for existence. Should gentility or fame be the standard? According to dictionary, literature is any kind of a written work, especially a thing considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. As we see here, the criteria shouldn’t be a single, fragmentary question. Though the dictionary definition shows much of what literature is, it doesn’t state clearly, however, which factors contribute to the superiority or artistry of a written work. Though the immaculate definition wouldn’t exist, there surely are some factors a piece of literature should be equipped with.

The biggest factor of literature is a strong theme. A theme is a controlling idea that the author is trying to convey to the reader. For example, in the novel <La Peste> (translated into <The Plague> in English) by Albert Camus, Camus introduces to us a character named Jean Tarrou, who sends off the message of the story. Tarrou lives according to an ethical code that demands that he act in a way that benefits the whole community, even though, in this case, he risks his life by doing so. By this character, he represents solidarity, community and resistance towards instinctive social vice, which he intended to show to his audience. The theme being clear and strong, readers can concentrate on the story, sharing thoughts with the writer. Hence, a theme is the essence of a piece of literature, and without it, there would just be a rambling piece of text without any point, unworthy for communication.

The style of a written work also decides whether the work is a literature or not. Style is the codified gestures, in which the author tells. In the novel, the author employs various literary devices including allegory, symbolism, and point of view. Allegory, in particular, is a symbolism device where the meaning of a greater, often abstract, concept is conveyed with the aid of a more corporeal object or idea being used as an example. In the case of <La Peste>, the plague signifies the German occupation of France from 1940 to 1944 during World War II. The figurativeness gives an opportunity for a writer to describe, or readers to accept, the story more sensuously. Observing the facet of the plague, readers get to deeply understand how catastrophic the war (or any kind of social vices) could be, something that they would otherwise only be able to understand in a shallow degree. Thus, the style of the writing plays a great role in literature, by sophisticating and multi-dimensioning the way in which the reader perceives the written work, broadening the chance for readers to actually “feel” the story. The style being missed, the written work will end up being a list of fragments of incidents, not giving any kind of impression to readers.

Last but not least, a piece of literature should be beautiful. Beauty must hint existence of itself other than in the way of style, no matter how dim or faint it is. Beauty doesn’t have to only include positive emotions, contrary to people’s expectations. Instead, a literature could have either positive and negative aspects (or both of them), helping readers understand the real beauty of life. For instance, in <La Peste >, the process of people fighting against the epidemic is scrutinized, presenting readers with realistic but exquisite form of beauty. In spite of the plague being so powerful, people of the town fought fiercely against the impending doom, endowing us with intrinsic and humanistic beauty. Indeed, some lost their hope and never came out of the grief. However, that absurdness of life imposes grace to the sorrowed, only because they never gave up their life, even if they did not live a life full of hope and love to the others. That kind of unconditional and ever-lasting grace touches reader’s hearts, sometimes changing their attitudes toward their life. Therefore, a written work should have beauty in existence and otherwise, it will not be able to move the reader’s mind or change their thoughts.

To recap, if a piece of literature should be read as literature, it has to convey the strong message via its own style in a beautiful way. Of course, there are many other factors that define the existence of literature. However, those elements are of choice, having not much importance on what literature is. The theme, style, and beauty, however, must always be taken into consideration, for the reason that it altogether helps the communication between an author and a writer, promoting the possibility of world being changed in a positive way.

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