Monday, June 6, 2022

How Literature Shaped Me ?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person studying English Literature as a formal course isn't really studying. (Ketan Krishna, TOI)

It is a commonly known fact that someone who studies English Literature as a formal subject is not truly studying.When an Indian brilliant girl, who good in all the subjects and also completed her 12th in commerce and than she decides to upset his parents and waste the toil of a lifetime by enrolling in an English course at a thikthak college in the rural area, she is willingly entering the deep abyss of aimlessness, unemployment, and inebriation. There are no jobs, no prospects, and no good future. . It is against this setting that a English Literature student embarks on a three-year odyssey. It is assumed that she will "read novels and squander time." The first problem is adjusting from the school environment to the college campus.

The teachers do not wish to be silent. The teachers are also uninterested in teaching. They are, meanwhile, highly educated young people, so there's plenty to learn from them. Education as a notion has changed. Rather than being absorbed, knowledge must be extracted. The learner who wishes to learn must take the initiative. There is a course that must be taught in an insufficient amount of time, which expands into reading well beyond authorized content.

Trustworthy, I would only talk about things that happened when I was studying literature. However, the text is open to being questioned, analyzed, and destroyed. Because no story is ever really genuine or honest. However, there is a chance of truth in any narrative, which must be considered. Here are my learning lessons, as well as a large bag of newly chiseled concepts.

 "Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it but molds it to its purpose. The nineteenth century, as we know it, is largely an invention of Balzac." 

- Oscar Wilde

So, I am here to narrate my Five year Journey of reading Literature along with how Literature helped in become my new better version of myself. Have you ever considered something that has affected you? If not, then think about it first. Your reason will increase your interest in reading. What impact does literature have on me? If I remark that books have been an important part of my life since I was a teenager, it may be because I have been unintentionally tempering my memory. So, before I begin wreaking have on the literature that has molded me. Let's take a ride through some questions.

 What really is life? What is our exitance? Have you ever considered it? I started to think, and the growth of my thoughts helped lead me to the insight that thoughts alone do not produce life! Not only that, but the question of what is life, what is the purpose of existing, and all the upheaval drew me to literature. What was the significance of books in my life? When I think about it, I understand I should start with when books were becoming a part of my life. Literature has been taught in me in some form or another since I was a child through my home and my school. I remember when I was in std 2 or 3. I used to bring books of Gujarati comics with me, such as Panchatantra, ishapatini vato and more others. When I say I love reading, I love books actually  I'm curious which novel will be the first to be read!!!

You are known with me today because of my activities, my presentations, my assignments, academic works, postings,  as a student. So, whatever I am now, I am completely the result of literature. Examining the nature and roots of my thoughts, I saw that my style of thinking had shifted; literature was tried to highlight a new awakening. During my school days and also college days, I was a highly interested yet shy girl, as far as I recall.

 Whenever I recall my B.A. class, I believe that a terrifying circumstance and things has been developed, that moment is hurting my thoughts, my mind becomes swamped with Aziz from Tughluq by Girish Karnad that becomes apparent in front of the family and friends. Santiago imparted in me the importance of never giving up on determination and hard work. Always choose your role models carefully, like Santiago admires baseball star Joe DiMaggio and his playing style. I also learned to be specific while creating and picking role models for myself.

Literature includes more than only aesthetic pleasure or entertainment. It not only entertains but also teaches people life truths. The question now is whether Literature is exclusively concerned with Morality. And the obvious response is 'No , Nope.' Literature addresses both the Right and Wrong aspects of society. On the one hand, it teaches lovely moral values or life lessons; on the other hand, it depicts the darkest side of human culture, mentality, or attitude. Arvind Adiga's novel 'The White Tiger' is not in my syllabus but read this novel and fortunately watch the movie,'The White Tiger,' Though it has been heavily criticised for sending the incorrect lesson of murdering a boss in order to realize personal fortune. Nonetheless, it has many deeper life lessons.

Literature students are trained to think critically. According to Hegel and Marx, teleology and grand design are diametrically opposed. According to structuralism and Foucault, ideologies are biassed, and the words one uses, as well as the structures one works under, should all be questioned as systems of control and suppression. As a result, there is a lack of order. The student is torn between romance and reality, between order and chaos.

There is undoubtedly no scarcity of answers in the twenty-first century, but the difficulty is definitely a lack of queries. But everytime I sense a deficiency, I run to the library, and if I am not swamped, my perusing will be mortified! Since I learned a little piece of literature, my mind has indeed been continuously straying to study what literature in many other languages is saying. I completed my primary course in Gujarati, and as a result, my Gujarati grew more proficient unknowingly. As I became more acquainted with the literature of various languages, the Bengali,marathi  and urdu  language drew me in the most.

Why is one to do it? What is the purpose? This dilemma comes as a result of the instruction one acquires when studying literature. Beginning with Dickens, reality and fantasy are separated. Then there are the Victorian Realists, who emphasise the'reality' of modern existence, and the Russian Nihilists, who question the'reality' of life. Finally, Modernism and Existentialism call language into question and cast doubt on meaning. When one is at a loss for what to do, Beckett strikes the ultimate blow and announces, 'Nothing to be done.'

Darindaa ?! oops... Derrida provided me with an acceptable knowledge of language issues in later years, as well as theoretical backing in talks with friends about my unsupported arguments. Understanding was created in a different method at the time. Feminism also reached postfeminism, and both the necessity for it and the reasons for its failure were recognised. However, the fact that there is no need to hang a basket of guilt on anyone's head has become so ingrained in the mind that everything, the matter, and the person can now be seen automatically through four or five lenses, and when viewed from different points of view, confusion with reconciliation is lessened, though it is foolish to think so every time!

According to Eliot's The Waste Land, be a giver, exhibit compassion, and exercise self-control. Datta, Dayadhvam, and Damyata are Sanskrit terms. It has come to my attention that people who give to society suffer the most, while those who just take from others prosper. Nonetheless, the five-part poem makes me ponder.

"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

Of course, literature discusses all sorts of terrible things, but there is still a sense of fulfilment, and that is what makes literature wonderful. Literature is just like water in a parched jungle, irrigating your thoughts and awareness of life and people.Literature helps me to become more self-disciplined and self-aware.I can affirm without a doubt that literature inspired me to read more, to keep discussing it, to keep learning new ideas, and to get lost someplace in the world of dialogues where becoming lost is more powerful than finding myself!

Thank You So Much...













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