Why Do We Study Literature?

To learn more about us: human condition.

The human condition is defined as “the characteristics, key events, and situations which compose the essentials of human existence, such as birth, growth, emotionality, aspiration, conflict, and mortality.”
This is a very broad topic which has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, including those of religion, philosophy, history, art, literature, sociology, biology, andpsychology.
As a literary term, “the human condition” is typically used in the context of ambiguous subjects such as the meaning of life or moral concerns.

Following are comments by students of Gustavus Adolphus College, a private Liberal Arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States.

“Although I concede that it is not absolutely necessary to major in English in order to gain perspective from literature, I feel that English is a good lens through which to view the world, both present and past.  When I study a great work of literature, I not only gain insight into the universal truth about which the author has chosen to write, but I also, in my attempts to understand, can learn about the culture in which the author lived, the history surrounding the country of his origin, and the various intellectual, political, and artistic movements of the time.  Thus the window to humanity that lies at the heart of all literature can act as a sort of connecting portal to the culture surrounding each individual author.  The reader stands on the common ground of the universal truth around which a work is constructed – the point at which the reader’s world and the author’s meet – and begins to understand some of the motivations behind the author’s own quest for truth.

Once someone has become more experienced in the ways of the world, or in the ways of literature, it falls upon that person to begin to light the way for future explorers.    Some may write literary works of their own, using words to illuminate their views on the truth about humanity.  Others may decide instead to act as teachers, helping prospective explorers learn to traverse the dense and sometimes bewildering forest of novels they will encounter along their journey.  No matter the manner in which people choose to serve, the task itself remains as timeless as the truths that humans have sought for centuries: As the great thinkers and authors of the past have marked out paths in the wilderness for we who have followed them, so we must serve as guides for those who will come after us.

Great literature provides its readers with a window into various aspects of the human condition and a guide to the way we, as a species, relate to one another and to our surroundings.  Literature gives us a mirror in which to examine our collective reflection as a people.  It does not gloss over the pimples and blemishes of humanity, but exposes them quite openly.  No concealer, no cover-up, only the truth.  Literature is the reflecting pool into which every person that ever existed can look and see both his own face and the faces of all his fellow people.  It enables each human to not only find the humanity within his own heart, but also to connect him to the generations of other people who have been doing so since the beginning of time.”

Rebekah Schulz

“Creative writing has been a happy part of my life since I first learned to hold a pencil, so once I chose Gustavus, I considered my career as an English major a given. Perhaps I am a rare bird for that, being so sure of myself so soon. But I could not have anticipated how much I learned about the value of reading, in every area of life, through the English major; nor did I see its potential to shape me as a writer. No matter how straight-forward a story may seem, the search for something deeper within it leads to all kinds of insights that, while perhaps not in line with the author’s original intent (who knows?), teach you more about the world and the different ways people use language. The theory taught alongside literature, in combination with this analysis, gives you the power of perspective that is so essential to finding contentment and peace in communication with people who are different from you, in a way that is unique to the study of literature. To write you have to read, and to really read, you have to think, criticize, doubt, wonder, and stand amazed by words on the page. The English major showed me how to do that, and not only has it increased my skills as a writer, it has made me a more compassionate and honest person.”

Caitlin Skvorc

“I study literature because I believe there is power in stories. Literature is both intensely personal as well as a communal experience. I love examining how words, sentences, characters, plot-lines and tropes reveal who we are as humans. Humanity is a complicated thing, and requires an infinite amount of words to describe and analyze. That’s the joy of studying literature, there is always a new reality to discover.”

Mikaela Warner

“For me, the decision to study literature has been a struggle.  Since I was young, I always enjoyed reading and being read to, but I always considered the actual study of literature to be made up; seriously, poets don’t actually try to “invoke” some other work.  Literary devices?  Some make-believe stuff that people invented to make English seemscientific.  Although I enjoyed it, literature, to me, was studied only by those who weren’t smart enough to study something real, something provable.

As I understand it, those feelings are not uncommon.  The difference for me, though (as compared to some other people I know), is that I grew out of them.  I started really looking at rhetorical devices, and the use of language.  I started to see that, although it still was not science, it was art, and art is the greatest expression of that which is human.”

David Lick

“As far as my own goals in literature, they are quite simple.  Admittedly, part of my fascination is for ‘great ammunition for cocktail parties.’  There is a very attractive element to being able to talk about literature—great characters, famous stories—that I think attracts most people to literature.  And it is a good feeling to know a lot about it.

However, that is not my greatest concern.  Most of all, my goal is to learn as much as I can about the human condition, and what it really means to be human, in all aspects.”

David Lick

“By studying literature I find that this sense of confusion and search for self-discovery is a common theme.  I am confident that my choice to be an English major is one that I will be satisfied with.  Thus far, in my opinion, to be an English major entails more than just being able to read and write well.  An English major must also strive to understand and interpret the importance that various forms of literature have had on the society of the past and the present.  Being able to express opinions is another important aspect, as is starting a piece of literature with an open mind.  These habits are also important when facing everyday life, not just literature.

The chance to read and write is something that everyone should be able to experience.  Literature in all forms is everywhere in today’s society, and with this idea, it is clear just how important it is.  Whether it is studied in the classroom, read for pleasure or purpose, literature is a central part of many lives.  It offers not only a chance to enlighten a person, but it also gives the chance to broaden one’s horizons and perspectives.  In my case, having the opportunity to study literature in two different languages has helped me to find similarities in two different cultures, and to also find that although literature varies in form and content, it is important and it is a central part of many lives.”

Stephanie Conroy

“Reading and writing, the basic principles involved in the study of English, serve as the gateway to a deeper level of thought.  After mastering these elementary skills, comprehension, analysis, and interpretation are learned and used to better educate ones self.  Studying literature and observing personal reactions to the literature can make one more aware of his or her own values.  English skills are helpful in every area of life.  Reading, writing, comprehension, analysis, and interpretation increase efficiency in multiple ways including communication, documentation in other areas of study, and reflection of personal values. I believe there is no area of study that English and communication skills do not influence.”

Maria Freund

“Reading and writing, in general, are undoubtedly some of the most valuable skills one can have; obviously, having these skills makes is much easier for people to communicate and to participate in society.  However, there exists a purpose for reading and writing outside of these immediate practical purposes; the written word can be used to enlighten, to persuade, to express emotion, or simply for enjoyment.  In these forms the written word becomes an art form, and a way of reaching out to others through a personal experience between the writer and the reader.  Reading is an excellent way to associate oneself with the great minds of history and peer into their own thoughts.  Reading is surely one of the most effective ways one can expand oneself.”

Matt Beachey

“Literature is a way in which we can capture and interpret what has happened and is happening to us personally and to the world as a whole.  An entire culture exists in the written word, documenting the collective thoughts of everyone who cared to share them with the world.  Therefore, I believe that for one to truly be a part of human society, it is critical that one take part in the evolution and self-realization that is literature, even if only in the reading aspect.  Writing, however, carries a grave importance, as literature simply would not exist in the accessible form it does without written word, and for that reason I believe all who can write should.  One should take advantage of the great opportunity to be part of and contribute to the world and society in which he or she lives through writing.  I see literature in the societal sense a collective struggle to understand and make the best of the lives that we have all been given.  Literature serves as a way to enrich our minds, and presents a way to improve the world not only through the beauty of its presence but through the ideas and tangible possibilities it possesses.”

Matt Beachey

“The best of my English teachers taught us literature because they wanted the art of it to expand our minds and help teach us new ways of seeing the world. I was taught to both see a work of literature as a way to understand the time it was written, and the people who produced it, and to find the parts of that work that spoke to me in my time and place. While I am skeptical about whether or not anyone can ever really understand a culture or a time prior to their own, I do know that many times literature and art provide insights that cold hard facts do not. Most of all I find that literature makes the differences more manageable, and highlights the similarities between people. I can read a Greek tragedy two thousand years later and agree with things that some older white man was saying because he was a human being, and I am a human being. Although it may sound trite, I have had reading experiences that taught me more about what it means to live in this world.”

Sybylla Yeoman Hendrix

“Not everyone loves reading enough to do it in their spare time, but the people who do are the ones who get the most benefit out of what they read, because they want to be there in that world that literature creates. I have met very intelligent people who do not read. But all of the interesting people I know read, whether or not they are particularly intelligent.”

Sybylla Yeoman Hendrix

“I read literature for a number of different reasons.  Literature is an art full of passion and heart; it transcends the ages.  Great literature hits on many different levels.  Over the years authors have accomplished unfeasible tasks through the use of their words.  Literature has prompted political and social change in societies and continues to do so to this day.  It can be a battle cry for the proletariat to rise up and make a difference, and it can also provide personal counsel.

Literature sets me free from the responsibilities of this world, and at the same time it ties me down to those same responsibilities.  Some literature I read for an escape; to journey to a far away land and go on a grand adventure with creatures beyond my imagination.  Other literature has much more serious subject matter, and I read it to remind myself that life isn’t all cupcakes and ice cream.”

Ryan McGinty

“To me, literature is about the obsession with ideas. We read literature to discover and to learn about ideas and we write it to discover and to cultivate our own ideas. No lover-of-ideas can go without either reading or writing. For me, if I go too long without one or the other, I get this huge build up of confused and jumbled ideas that suddenly overcome me and I just have to write them out in some form (philosophic prose, narrative, poetry, scribbled phrases, etc.). That must be why literature can appear in a multitude of forms: be it poetry or prose, the sonnet or the novel, the sestina or the short story, etc. All literature shares the common theme of the idea. Ideas explore, probe, inquire, and inspire. The reactions to such are all that become a part of the learning process. There is a great deal that literature can teach. Literature can teach to the individual and to all of society. It can teach us about the past and the present and even about the future. Subjects can be broad and far-reaching, but can also be specific. Literature teaches us about laughter and love, about remembering and forgetting. It can create emotion and warn us against our many human faults. It can attempt to disprove other ideas or attempt to find truth. I think we are all looking to find truth in some form or another. Oftentimes, the uncertainty of a specific meaning of a piece allows for its interpretation to be for the reader to decide. What is certain, however, is that there are things to be learned from literature that are specific to it, that cannot be attained through any other medium. To gather this knowledge and to experience its beauty all pertain to the importance of literature to me.”

Abby Travis

“Another reason that I enjoy reading so much is the places you can go to when you read. I know that that sounds pretty corny, like something on a PBS commercial, but I feel that there are a vast amount of experiences and people the reader gets to encounter in any work of literature.”

Stefan Kolis

“When I pick up a fantasy novel and fly through it in an hour, I do it for enjoyment, pure and simple.  But I read things like The Grapes of Wrath or Heart of Darkness because they are more than just a moment’s diversion.  What they contain that dime novels do not is a window into the things that make human beings tick, the methods behind our madness, so to speak.  I go through life experiencing different situations and learning from them, but not always being able to put into words exactly what I have learned.  I read literature because its function, as I define it, is to illuminate some aspect of the human condition.  Not only is the uncovering of these truths significant in and of itself, but the revelation process also provides a common experience through which the reader can relate to every person who has discovered that same truth before him.
One way that literature communicates the human condition to readers is that it brings the truths it contains to life.”

Rebekah Schulz

Above in QUOTED BLOCKS are the answers to the question “Why should you study literature?” posed to the students of Gustavus Adolphus College, a private Liberal Arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly rooted in its Swedish and Lutheran heritage. The premier event on campus is the annual Nobel Conference, which features Nobel Laureates and other world-renowned scholars explaining their expertise to a general audience.

The college presents its mission as tied to the fact that it is a church-related college: A “private residential liberal arts college firmly rooted in its Swedish and Lutheran heritage.” While the institution offers many majors, the school also presents itself as a place where “a mature understanding of the Christian faith” is nurtured; so that “students are encouraged to work toward a just and peaceful world.” Many students are involved in volunteer work, and service learning is integrated into many of the courses on campus.