How literature creates its own reality

The relationship between literature and reality is a critical aspect of literary studies and can be discussed in various ways. This essay explores the ways in which literature reflects and affects life. With reference to the Greek’s ancient play the Medea and the contemporary short story the Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book, this essay posits that literature does not only present the reality but it also affects it. Therefore, by affecting real life, literature, in its unique way, shapes our understanding and creates its own reality as well.

The reality is the state of things and thoughts as they actually exist and happen. Literature expresses the meaning of these existences to our mind. In other words, literature is a conveyer of the meaning of the whole things that are surrounding us. According to Derrida and his post-modernism interpretation, mentioned in Lecture Presentation on (12/10/2016) meaning cannot exist by itself, “meaning is […] conventional, arbitrary, and not innate in nature. […] therefore no inherent truth in nature/the world.” (slide. 12). So, in the case of reality, it should not have existed prior to its emergence in the text, and it cannot have occurred unless it is understood. As for literature, a conveyor cannot be separate to what it is conveying, and therefore, by its very first function, literature as the conveyor of reality is reality itself.

Literature uses the language as the main contrivance in order to achieve such conveyance. On the other hand, a language consists of conventional signs, words, and structure, which are adequate means for communicating and transferring meanings. But, when it comes to literature in relation to reality, it establishes further elements of concepts through its own constituents such as tone, setting, theme, plot, characters, imagery, metaphor, irony, and symbolism.  Therefore, in literature, the reality is rather given through a system that is coextensive with the language.  A literary text does not just consist of the essence of meaning and knowledge, but of humour. Naipaul’s short story the Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book gives a perfect instance, “God is my Witness I never find a night watchman work like this, so much writing […] I don’t have four hands and six eyes […] I am a poor man and you could abuse me” (p. 213). One can easily observe that, in fact, it is to literature that the state of life as it actually exists can be understood. 

Literature affects the way we think. As it has articulated by Foucault, that is the episteme that the artistic knowledge is bounded on, which is the social and cultural institutions and structures in its particular time and the specific place (Lecture 28/09/2016). But literature also interacts with the episteme to which it belongs to. Thus, the prospect of knowledge at each time, to some extent, has been affected by literature. However, a large number of factors may involve with any epoch, the dramatic changes from ancient Greek plays to post-modern theatre shows a significant proportion of pursuits on the episteme of each time in history has happened within the literature. That was in the theatre that “the cause of events slipped from being in the hands of the Gods to being in the hands of man” (slide. 3. Week 12).  During the ancient Greek, the drama enabled knowledge, which has coincided with the development of that era. In Euripides’ drama the Medea, the protagonist think she is on the right track and the Gods are supporting her, “Medea: What heavenly power lends an ear to a breaker of oaths, a deceiver?” (p .107). This is not just placing the art into public speaking, and expanding the rhetoric, but also paving the way of the argument with all its consequences which affect the way people think.   

Literature reflects the reality of life and makes a sense of it. Life is very complex and the reality, to a large extent, consists of conflicts, and therefore, it may seem pointless on many occasions. On contrary, every individual literary writer, in fact, is mirroring the experience of reality in life, because of the explanations on aspects of reality that one can encounter within his or her daily life. It is only in literature that the reflection of life may consist the overall capacity of text. Because it is to literature that educates, while make us laugh, or inspire at the same time horrifying us. Therefore, the literary reflection of reality is always accompanied with extra meaning which affects us. “Medea: Of all things which are living and can make a judgement, we women are the most unfortunate creatures” (p. 66-67). That is the reflection of reality in literature, depicted so vividly, that the women were treated like a property.

Reference:

Euripides. “The Medea” in Introduction to Literary Studies Spring 2016. Ed. Achilles S. Western Sydney University. Print.

Naipaul, V, S. “The Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book” in Introduction to Literary Studies Spring 2016. Ed. Achilles S. Western Sydney University. Print.