The Infamous Debate

Thesis: The function of literature is to delight or to edify.

The function of literature whether to instruct or to delight has been a famous debate. The debate that was commenced by Plato and Aristotle in the 4^th century B.C. has been carried forward by numerous critics over centuries. For some, literature is delight while for some others it is to instruct. However, according to DeQuincey (19^th century essayist) there is the literature of knowledge and the literature of power. Literature of knowledge instructs, preaches and understands. Literature of power is aesthetic and perceptive. For him, the concept of literature is informative and instructive, it is also delightful and it transports pleasure. At the same time it is true and sound.

For Plato, literature is merely a mode of instruction. He accuses art of being an imitation and it is twice removed from reality. He claims the subject and the methods to be false. Literature that is emotive seduces the philosopher. Only that literature which instructs is acceptable to Plato. However, Aristotle in his ‘Poetics’ refutes these accusations of Plato. He consents with Plato about literature being imitation but rebuts and affirms that imitation is natural. Plato’s ideal reality is higher reality for Aristotle. Literature being emotive is a cathartic process. Therefore, he defends literature and art as being a delightful way of thinking.

Every century has witnessed the practitioners of art debating this issue. They favor one or the other function. For Horace, the purpose of literature is “to instruct and to delight”. Longinus, a Latin critic believed that the function of literature is to transport, to elevate and ultimately to reach the sublime. This first ‘Affective Theory’ is attributed to Longinus. For the subject to transport, the poet’s personality is very crucial. The poet has to be a combination of vehemence of emotions and strong personality. Then the poetry can be affective.

In Sir Philip Sydney’s ‘An Apology for Poetrie’ he stresses on moral influence and states that the “delightful teaching is end of all poesy.” He was compelled to stress on the teaching aspect since he was responding to the Puritanical objections regarding the pleasures of literature. Ben Jonson, a 17^th century poet-dramatist and critic gave magnitude to self expression. For him, the words and the senses are the body and soul of poetry. He stresses on the delightful feature of art and literature. Similarly, John Dryden, a 17^th century essayist, critic, poet and a dramatist considers poetry as a representation of human nature and humours in delightful and instructive ways. He accentuates on the delight of poetry and says that instruction is second to delight.

There are critics who try to strike poise between both of these functions of literature. Like Dryden, Dr. Samuel Johnson, he too supposes that the end of all writing is to instruct while the end of all poetry is to instruct by pleasing. He also believes that the poet deals with species and not individuals and hence imparts general and transcendent truths.

For Romantics, literature was imagination, inspiration, expression of personality and they gave a lot of importance to the poet’s personal impression of life. Shelley, in his ‘Defense of Poesy’ integrates Platonic and Aristotlean ideas when he states that poetry is an “image of life expresses in its eternal truth.” In the Victorian Age, Matthew Arnold in ‘Essays in Criticism’, his essay ‘The study of Poetry’ says that “poetry is essential to interpret life for us, to control us, to sustain us.”

It is apparent how the practitioners and critics have takes sides over the debate. The primary function of literature for me is delight that ultimately leads to teaching. To delight and to instruct go hand in hand. Neither survives without the other. The age old fairy tales and fables serve the same purpose of being delightful and also impart morals and discipline. However interesting a piece of literature is, ultimately delivers instructions. In the process, teaching becomes a secondary function.

A piece of literature that simply amuses is not regarded as great literature, it is pulp fiction. Some examples of pulp writing are, ‘I Married a Dead Man’, ‘The Lolita Lovers’, ‘Kiss Me You Fool’. Such writings cannot be considered as literature at all. Literature is associated with imagination; however, teaching is a part of it. Literature that only functions as teaching or instruction is didactic. There is no imagination therefore; it is not great literature either. If it is only about teaching humanity, a book of sermon serves the same purpose but, can it be considered literature? Literature just as delight or literature as instruction cannot be observed in seclusion. There is no need to rule out either. Literature can do both as serve both its functions proficiently.

A great piece of literature is scrutinized by all when it is delightful and instructive, both. All great writers of the canons like Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar Wilde and many more have revealed how literature can be both. All the imaginative literature is delightful and it is artistic in nature. Teaching takes place circuitously. This aesthetic aspect provides beauty to the work and also stirs up the emotions amongst the readers. This ultimately leads to catharsis.

Literature has had to defend itself pertaining to its functions and writers have felt coerced to prove that they were not merely delighting but also instructing humanity. All art is ‘sweet’ and ‘useful’ to its appropriate users. It articulates a higher truth than the readers are capable of. It gives better expression to their thoughts and offers a release through such an experience. A successful work of literature, therefore, coalesces pleasure and utility. The pleasure of literature is the higher one because it is non-acquisitive and reflective thus involving a higher activity. Its seriousness is aesthetic and it is one of perception, not of duty. The pleasure is not a frivolous one. Literature has many functions; therefore, it can supersede religion and philosophy that is mere instruction. It has many functions and it fuses several elements of history, music, imagery, poetry and so on. Therefore, literature is inestimable and enchanting, alluring to both mind and heart.