"One thing I’m quite sure about: reading literature doesn’t make people behave better. If there were any correlation between the number of books we read and our ability to treat others humanely, English department faculty meetings would be jolly festivities of care and consensus." - omg, that made me laugh out loud. And "My hunch is that at least part of the answer has to do with a suspicion of pleasure.". Brené Brown always says Joy is the most vulnerable of all the emotions and to really experience and be with joy requires us to be vulnerable. So often I see that everything in our culture that I think needs to change has to do with the denial of vulnerability. Because it is hard to be with and when we live in a world with millions and millions of easily accessible distractions it's easy to think we don't have to.
Literature and history save me daily as the country I grew up upticks it's State supported bigoted monster Act.
When lies are deified by the powerful, truth hides in the arts, I think. Everything from music, songs, architecture, embroidery is a proof of India's shared history. But in the current ideological narrative, 200 million plus muslims are outsiders.
Thank you for the clarity you bring to the question of Literature's burden. It is as much, what I or you (not the slippery we), bring to the book as readers that helps them save me or you.
"The very qualities that made art so liberating to the prisoners I once studied are what makes it reviled in more peaceful times. Or what looks like them."
PS: the site asks for login every time I make a comment.
"One thing I’m quite sure about: reading literature doesn’t make people behave better. If there were any correlation between the number of books we read and our ability to treat others humanely, English department faculty meetings would be jolly festivities of care and consensus." - omg, that made me laugh out loud. And "My hunch is that at least part of the answer has to do with a suspicion of pleasure.". Brené Brown always says Joy is the most vulnerable of all the emotions and to really experience and be with joy requires us to be vulnerable. So often I see that everything in our culture that I think needs to change has to do with the denial of vulnerability. Because it is hard to be with and when we live in a world with millions and millions of easily accessible distractions it's easy to think we don't have to.
Not sure if music counts here, but music helps me (quite literally) survive.
Literature and history save me daily as the country I grew up upticks it's State supported bigoted monster Act.
When lies are deified by the powerful, truth hides in the arts, I think. Everything from music, songs, architecture, embroidery is a proof of India's shared history. But in the current ideological narrative, 200 million plus muslims are outsiders.
Thank you for the clarity you bring to the question of Literature's burden. It is as much, what I or you (not the slippery we), bring to the book as readers that helps them save me or you.
"The very qualities that made art so liberating to the prisoners I once studied are what makes it reviled in more peaceful times. Or what looks like them."
PS: the site asks for login every time I make a comment.