AN INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY OF LITERATURE CHAPTER 2 William Henry Hudson Q. 1 What is National Literature? INTRODUCTION : In order to understand a book of literature it is necessary that we have an idea of the personality of the man who has written it. And one of the ways in which to understand better the author is to study the age in which he lived and the nation to which he belonged. WRITER AND THE NATION : A great writer does not live an isolated life. He is connected to his nations past and the present. That is, he is related to his predecessors and contemporaries and forms a part of the national literature. National literature is a developing organism which changes continuously. It affects the way in which an individual author writes. National literature is not just a dry list of books written in one language, in one country. Such a literature shows the progress or the thinking process of a nation during all these years of its existence. If we study the literature of nation we can know the strengths and the limitations of its citizens. By studying the literature of a nation we travel to the nation and know how the minds of people of other race work. CONCLUSION : However it is not necessary that all the writers of a nation write in the same way. Individual writers may different. But one thing is sure that the writers work would reflect the spirit of his race. For example, a Greek writer, however different he may be from his national type would always reflect the Greek spirit. Therefore while political or social history deals with the external detail, literature tells us about the mental and moral characteristics of a nation. The history of literature tells us how the intellectual and spiritual life of a nation has been formed.
Q. 2 Comment on literature as a social product. A writer exhibits many qualities that are common to his time. Therefore while studying one particular writer, if we compare him with his contemporaries, we would understand him better. For example, we can understand Shakespeare better if we also analyse the writings of his contemporaries like Marlowe, Johnson and others. It may be true that because of his great personality one particular writer would be lot different from others of his age. But then, if we read carefully, we would notice that these writers who belong to the same age have many things in common. For example, the Elizabethan dramatists have many similar characteristics among themselves. However they different vastly when we compare them to the dramatists of the Neo-classical or the Romantic age. Pope and Tennyson, who belong to two different ages, when placed side by side appear very different. One belongs to the age of Queen Anne while the other belongs to the Victorian age. Therefore Tennyson's poetry shows the love of nature. However, Pope's poetry does not exhibit any such thing. It concentrates on town life which was the interest of the times. That is the reason why even though both poets may have many things in common with their contemporaries they are vastly dissimilar from each other. Thus literature reflects the moods of joy, sorrow, hope, doubt, struggle etc. in the life of a nation and the age. In short, it reflects the spirit of the age. Therefore to study the literature of an age we have to study the writings of each separate author of the age. Thus a great collection would express a common spirit though there may be individual differences. As literature of the one age differs from that of an another age. It is connected to history also. Literature cannot isolated from life. Life produces literature. However literature also gives something back to life. It makes life more rich and beautiful. Literature is therefore not just a social product, it also contributes to the society. Q. 3 Analyse Taine's formula of the race, the milieu and the moment. RACE, MILIEU AND MOMENT : Taine, the French historian had tried to interpret in a scientific manner. He believed that all individuals at a particular time are the products of the forces governed by the race, the milieu and the moment. By race he means the hereditary temperament of the people. Milieu is the social surroundings, their climate, physical environment, political institutions etc. And moment is the spirit of the period or the stage of national development. According to him, we can
study an author by examining how these forces act on him and his contemporaries. IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING PERSONAL GENIUS : However Taine's formula has many drawbacks. According to him an individual is merely a product of his race or epoch. Taine overlooks the factor of personality. He does not talk of that quality in a man which differentiates him from his surroundings. According to Jebb a genius combines his personal qualities with the qualities gifted to him by his society or nation. For example Shakespeare had an individual gift of flexibility of spirit, which is not normally found among the English people. Therefore alogn with considering the external factors one must also include in one's study the personal genius of the writer. AUTHOR TOO AFECTS THE AGE : Secondly Taine only talks about how the age affects the author. He does not consider how the author affects the age. For example, Victorian literature was affected by various intellectual movements which took place at that time. These movements were stimulated and guided by the writings of Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle, Ruskin, Dickens and other geniuses. Therefore these great writers leave a mark on the age in which they lived. Such writers are the creators as well as the creatures of their times. Taine, therefore neglects the individuality of the writer. Taine's formula therefore, does not think of books as expressions of individual thought. That is why his theory fails. Q. 4 Comment on the use of the comparative method in the study of literature. We can understand an author better if we compare his work with that of his contemporaries. This way we can know about the influence of others on his thought and style. Similarly the literature of a race and age are frequently influenced by the literature of an another race and age. For example, English writers have frequently been inspired by the ideas coming from countries like Italy, France, Greece and Rome. The literature of one country has frequently inspired the literature of an another country. For example, by the end of the seventeenth century England came under the influence of French. French ideas were fashionable. And this influence we find in the writings of Pope and other writers of England. Therefore to understand English literature of this period then we have to constantly refer to the literature of France.
After this we find a reversal of the literary current. France came under the influence of English authors and thinkers like Locke, Richardson and others. Therefore to understand French literature of this period, we have to have an idea of the way Englishmen of this period thought. Hence to understand English or French literature completely, we have to study both the literatures together. However in case of Germany it was German literature that first came under the influence of English writings. But in the second half of the eighteenth century Germany started to pay back in the field of literary influence. Therefore, to understand the Romantic Movement in English literature, we have to study both German as, well as English thought. Comparison can also be between the authors of two different time periods. A genius of the past can influence the way in which an author in the present time writes. The poets of the Romantic age were influenced by the middle ages. Hence their poetry is full of medievalism. Therefore, to understand Romantic poetry poetry we should have an idea of what existed in the middle ages. Hence the comparative method is a vital tool in the study of literature. Q. 5 Comment on the historical study of style as a way of studying literature. The style in which a particular writer writes is not just an accident. It has a close connection with the age in which he lives. Style is the index of personality and the personality of writer is shaped by the happenings around him. For example, Carlyle wrote in the age of the Romantic revival, therefore his prose is not of the 'classic' kind, but is romantic in nature. Therefore Carlyle's style can be understood by understanding the external force that existed when he wrote. The prose of Milton and the writers who wrote during the Puritan age is cumbrous and difficult to understand. However the style changed after writers like Dryden and Addison wrote. The new prose was natural and simple. This style started after Restoration. The reasons for this change in style were many and can be listed as follows : First of all the advent of science saw a rise desire for lucidity in style and precision. Because of the rise in political and religious controversy prose was used mostly for argument, persuasion and satire. Hence it had to be simple. Other factors like the influence of French writing, output of pamphlets and periodicals also contributed to the new style. Therefore the external factors contribute a lot towards the development of the style. The style of a writer cannot be studied in isolation and a student of literature has to take into consideration great many external factors that affected the writer when he wrote.
Q. 6 Comment on the importance of the study of literary technique. Along with its strength, intellectual content, a work of art appeals to us because of its form. Therefore in the study of literature, an analysis of the literary technique of the writer is necessary. This study shall include an understanding of the conditions in which the work was written, the technical difficulties which the writer had to encounter, the way in which he solved the problems and so on. For example, we would enjoy Shakespeare's plays even more if we know the limitations of stage that existed during his time or if we know that Shakespeare was greatly influenced by Lyly in comedy and Marlowe in tragedy. We enjoy Milton's great epic 'Paradise Lost' for its great imaginative content. But we shall enjoy it even more if we study its form. For this we have to first of all know what an epic is and examine it as an epic art. Moreover, we have to examine how Milton is indebted to Bible, Greeks and what use he made of the borrowed material. The technical points that go into making a good style can be divided into intellectual elements, emotional elements and aesthetic elements. The intellectual elements are precision, i.e. the correct use of words, lucidity or clarity, propriety between the subject and treatment and harmony between thought and expression. The emotional elements are force, energy and suggestiveness. This helps the writer in conveying not just his thought but also his feeling. The aesthetic element are music, grace, beauty and charm which add to the attractiveness of style and give pleasure.