About Me

Science is my religion. Philosophy is my occupation. Thinking is my hobby. Greatness is my ambition. These lines are not taken from anywhere... I am surprised that I came up with those, actually! But thats what I am.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Literature? What hypocrisy!

The last thing I want to do is to offend anyone, so just consider ths a point of view...
What is literature? - creative writing of recognized artistic value.

That is what it is. Thats it. It is something that you read once, appreciate, and then forget. We can compare it to paintings. Thats what it is.

OR literature can be used as a medium to express yourself. Let us consider this point of view. You are expressing your opinion. Then why can't you do it the way I am just doing? But no, you have to put in the words that no normal person will understand. You just have to make me open the dictionary...Why? The 'next' generation is mixing up the 2 ideas of literature. They are trying to express an opinion but with weird non-comprehendible language. Thats not the way it should be, guys!. If I want to understand someone's opinion I'd want to do it quickly. So make it efficient!

I am a man of science. Everything should appeal to rational thought. This doesn't. Or if you think it does, then you can definitely make me understand. Send in your comments...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Literature is not just about opinions. Its about leading the reader to your message. If I say "society is corrupt", how many people do you think are going to bother about my opinion. If I write a satire about it then perhaps the message will reach across. Also literature makes you think and it challenges your mind. Almost like a mathematical puzzle might. Don't just brush off something that has been around for centuries!!!

Einstein said...

Yes anonymous(please leave a name and address! you're the first person to post a comment, i would most certainly want to know you!),

I totally agree with you. Expressing opinions is just a small part of literature, but what I am talking about is the hypocrisy that has crept into literature...

Let's take an example:

If I want to say that I write poems when I am contemplative... I would say "I write poems when I am in a contemplative mood"! which is precisely what I mean and what i intend to say... But, if I said that "I write poems when I am in a tranquilized mood"(which means a little different), it would make me a better writer. I have seen it. When you be straightforward, and use the most normal and not-so-big words which are appropriate(which is basically the point of having millions of words in the dict... so that you can find the most appropriate one...) then I am not a great writer than if I just use big words for the sake of using them...

This is what happens a lot in ICSE..

This happened to me very recently (after I had written this). I had written about my interests and hobbies, etc, for the family which was hosting me in a student exchange program. Honestly, it sounded like I was a 9 year old. And then this fella called Akshay Baliga comes in, reads it, and says I can make it sound better... He keeps my main points but changes a lot of appropriate (but small and very heard-of) words into fancy shit... I hated it, but I knew it was good for me...

If I wrote an essay with a line saying :

The moon is smaller in comparison with the earth. (which is true)

OR

The moon is nothing but an infinitisimal fragment of matter when compared to our mighty earth. (Which is BULLCRAP... I mean, its not that small!)

I bet I would get atleast double the marks in the second essay. People would think the first one is crap and the second one is soo beautiful when its the other way around.

See, the second line sounds good... But the point is, people are too impressed by big and fancy words rather than the way you express yourself(which is literature)...

I don't like that.

Anonymous said...

How about I just remain anonymous for now. Well it isn't the fault of the writer really is it? I mean you did change the simple words to fancier words because it was what was expected not because you felt it made what you were writing any better. So basically writers have to change with what the reader wants. It is more the hypocrisy in society that has affected literature and writers. And also the whole "moon" and "earth" comparison, the second one does sound better but this might also be because it compares both in a more detailed way. I mean is the earth bigger than the mooon in the way a papaya is bigger than a grape? Or is the difference much bigger? So there is sometimes a purpose behind fancier words. And if you did use fancy words in the ICSE to get your marks then you cannot say that literature is hypocrisy because in doing that you would be a hypocrite yourself. But ofcourse not all hope is lost... the popularity of Harry Potter proves that people still go for a good story rather than pretentious bullshit.

Anonymous said...

the point of good literature
is when it says alot with a fewer words . i dont know who or what bull uve been listening to to believe that literature would mean that ur firts esaay with e the moon is smaller than the earth is beeter . bullshit
and even from aliterary point of view thats true . good lierature is never cold or unfeeling . it doesnt matter what words you use or how flowery ur language is , believe u me , that icse propaganda bullshit !!! alot of authors would use flowery worde , not to impress the reader but often bacaus eit helps convey the message better , like melancholy is a more accurate type of asdness , depressed is another form of sandess . so to state the one is sad is to general , so we say melancholy , or depressed or miserable or whatever , every word has its own subtle nuance . sont underestimate the power of words . Parmeet being a sci studenti guess u prefer to keep things to the point , thats not the point of literature . Literature is like art . it is art . the author is but an artist painting a picture with his words . now an artist can choose to use primary or secondary colors or mix a whole of em . same with the author , he can choose to use flowery language , those weird shades of color u dont find in a box or he canuse basic primary colors , bold , and simple .
appreciate literature for as much as what it says as well as how it says it .