Why Do We Even Study Literature?
Besides looking like a cool intellectual by telling people you’ve read Homer’s Iliad, there are many reasons.
It Helps Us Understand the World Around Us
Do you know those boring essays that your teachers made you write in high school? The ones that the whole class used to groan about and the ones you still remember hating when you look back at your high school days?
They weren’t just about books, they’re about life. We don’t read To Kill a Mockingbird to picture Scout Finch wandering through the woods dressed as a ham, we read it to learn about the injustices endured by Tom Robinson and Boo Radley and we make the comparison to our society, from which the book is based on.
“That’s what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them!”
― Connie Willis
It Allows for Introspection By Analyzing Your Own Life
Have you ever read a book to the end, closed the cover, and just sat thinking to yourself? That’s the point of literature. It’s supposed to make you think. Literature is meant to give you different perspectives on the world and yourself. It’s like having hundreds of conversations at once.
“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”
― Maya Angelou
It’s Interdisciplinary
Literature isn’t just your high school English assignments. There is a huge umbrella of topics that literature falls under. I have a solid belief that there is a book for everyone. If classic literature isn’t your thing, maybe you like graphic novels or crime stories, or maybe psychological thrillers. They all fall under literature. By whose definition? Let’s try the Cambridge Dictionary, defining literature as: “written artistic works, especially those with a high and lasting artistic value”.
It Hones Critical Thinking Skills
When you read, you are absorbing information. When you read something you process the information and (hopefully) think deeply or critique what you’ve read.
Not only does it improve your thinking skills, but it helps you communicate your thoughts better verbally and on paper. It doesn’t matter if you work at a university or library, communication is important in any industry you work in.
It’s a Free Trip Around the World
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” — Mary Schmich
Reading books helps you understand the history, politics, and conditions of other countries that aren’t your own. For instance, before I had my trip to England in 2019, I could spout off many facts about the country’s history and culture from simply reading about it and taking an interest in it. I was extremely surprised when I would try to speak about these things with an English native living in Canada and he didn’t always understand what I was talking about.
Because I enjoy England, I’ve read books (non-fiction & fiction) that were set in Britain. When I finally went there, it really helped me enjoy my trip more when I saw some of the historical tours or culturally important landmarks and places (like in London) that I knew I already had an interest in.
It definitely gave me an idea of what to see when I was there and because of what I’ve read, I’d know what to see when I visit other countries like France, Greece or the United States.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin
You Become a Time Traveler
“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.”
― René Descartes
There is historical fiction written about the past, then there is fiction written throughout history written in their present day. If you want to know what a certain time period was like, truly, a good way to understand that era is to read literature from then.
Do you want to learn the British social constructs of the 18th century? Might I suggest Jane Austen? Interested in the history of child labour and the impoverished during the 19th century? Dickens is your guy. Wilderness living: Henry David Thoreau or Alexander Supertramp. Maybe you want to read the first detective story ever written: Edgar Allen Poe. Or maybe you enjoy Russian literature: Dostoevsky is sure to challenge your beliefs on human morality.
The list goes on from many different subjects from many different cultures around the world.
Now, Go Read
I don’t care what kind of book. It could be your morning newspaper or an ebook on your iPad; a poem maybe. It doesn’t matter. Your mind is a muscle that needs to be worked and these days we could use a lot of great minds. So just read.
