Meaning and features literature
R.J. Rees is a critic and literary
historian of the 20th century. In his book, '
English Literature: An Introduction for
Foreign Readers', he discusses an important
question why we study literature. In the
beginning he talks about the general
response. He points out that today science
and its study has become more significant.
He also opines that study of literature cannot
solve our problems like malnutrition, war,
violence, etc. So, literature seems
unimportant. Then Rees turns to the
definition of literature. He gives two
meanings of the term. In general sense,
anything that is written is literature. From
this point of view, time – tables, catalogs,
text – books, travel – brochures,
advertisements, news – items etc. are
literature. In a serious sense, literature is
writing which expresses and communicates
feelings and attitudes towards life. Rees give
the comparison of an account of London
from an encyclopedia and a poem about
London. He thus establishes the fact that
literature expresses feelings and attitudes.
For giving the second quality of
literature, Rees compares journalism and
literary writings. He says that a journalist
writes of and for his own day. On the other
hand literary writings have permanence.
Rees is against the categorization of good
and 'bad' literature. He is of opinion that
literature should be a mirror of human
nature. It should be close to life. This
closeness comes out of actual human
experience. Again, the quality of this
experience is more important than its
quantity.
One more feature of literature is
originality. Rees quotes Shakespeare and
Pope and says that being original does not
mean expressing new themes but looking at
the old ones in a new way. Next to
originality is craftsmanship. A writer should
have complete command over the language
he uses. A prose writer should know
grammar and usage. A poet should know the