According to this chap by the name of Rafe Champion at the Rathouse, literary critic René Wellek once wrote these words:
"I hope that I have preserved my integrity and a core of convictions:
that the aesthetic experience differs from other experiences and sets off the realm of art, of fictionality, from life;
that the literary work of art, while a linguistic construct, at the same time refers to the world outside;
that it cannot therefore be described only by linguistic means but has a meaning telling of man, society, and nature;
that all arguments for relativism meet a final barrier;
that we are confronted with an object, the work of art, out there which challenges us to understand and interpret it;
that there is thus no complete liberty of interpretation. Analysis,
interpretation, evaluation are interconnected stages of a single procedure.
Evaluation grows out of understanding. We as critics learn to distinguish between art and nonart and should have the courage of our convictions.
The lawyer knows or thinks he knows what is right and what is wrong; the scientist knows what is true and what is false; the physician knows what is health and what is illness; only the poor humanist is floundering, uncertain of himself and his calling instead of proudly asserting the life of the mind which is the life of reason."
As of right now, I can't think of a better affirmative statement in defense of the study of literature. Three cheers for "proud assertions!"
Posted by pjaussen at August 23, 2006 04:23 PM | TrackBack