St Andrews Seminary - Mapav Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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Things Literary Vita sine litteris mors est Horace

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1 9 3 9 What Is Literature? We can better understand a subject by first knowing its definition. We cannot define literaf ture with the accuracy with which we define biology, since definition is a scientific processg literature is an art and art is concerned with exf pression and creation. It is hardly possible to arrive at any clear understanding of what is meant by literature as an art, without some conf ception of what constitutes art in general. Broadly speaking, art exists in consequence of the universal human desire for sympathy. The essence of art is the expression of emotion, any book to be a work of art must embody sincere emotion. The writer must be sufficiently master of technique to be able to make words impart what he would express. The emotion expressed must be general and in some degree typical. Art must deal with what is typical in the sense that it touches the possibilities of all human nature. Therefore literature may be broadly defined as the adequate expression of genuine and typical emotion. Since literature is not a science but an art, we cannot put the meaning of a poem into words as easily as we can write up an experiment in chemistry. Definitions of literature are really descriptions from different points of view. Thomas Carlyle calls literature the 'Lthought of thinking souls, while Cardinal Newman refers to it as Nthe expression of thought in language, where by thought I mean the ideas, feelings, views, reasonings, and other operations of the human mind. The New Standard Dictionary defines literature as any written or printed prof ductions of the human mind collectivelyg especif ally such productions as are marked by elevation, vigor and catholicity of thought, by fitness, purity and grace of style and by artistic construction. From a cursory reading of this definition many people get the false impression that any' thing printed or written is literature. A little thought will show us that not all written or printed work is literature. The advertisements in this book are printed and are more than a list of words such as the dictionary is. The daily newspapers are printed and furnish a wide va' riety of information and a variety of reading material but the newspaper is not usually conf sidered literature although such men as Felix Morley, George Parker f'36j, John Owens f'37l, W. W. Waymack C381 have won the Pulitzer prize for journalism. Perhaps by this time some may have become confronted with the question: Well, what is literature? When we analyze a piece of literaf ture, such as, David Copperheld, The Ring and DONALD LEAHY, '39 the Book, Aes Triplex, we come to the concluf sion that these have certain characteristc none of which the advertisements, the dictionary or the newspaper contain. The principal character' istics of literature are: Literature is a picture of life, from which we can get a deeper knowledge of life and of man's achievementsg it gives us an intellectual and spiritual pleasure. Real literature does not dieg it is immortal. A recent bestfseller, for instance, Margaret Mitchell's Gone Witli the Wind and Marquand's Late George Apley, Pulitzer prize winners in 1937 and 1938 respecf tively, just after publication, were talked about in all circles, but soon this interest begins to wane and the book is left on the library shelves, un' noticed, but the classics are read and refread by all people and in every age. In our own experi' cnce we have probably found that the old book: are the most interesting. Literature is independent of place since the reader need not limit himself to the literature of one country but finds pleasure in books which have been translated from other languages. Ros' tand's Cyranno de Bergerac is as popular with American readers as Barrie's Peter Pan. Today, the ancient Roman empire would be entirely for' gotten were it 11015 for the interest students find in the literature of that country through their study of Caesar, Cicero, Vergil, Horace, and Livy. The poet has well said, NA thing of beauty is a joy forever. Cannot the fact that literature is a thing of beauty be alleged for the lasting enjoyment found in literature? Literature appeals to the universal desire for selffexpression since it includes all writings that express what we consciously or unconsciously feel the need of saying but are not able to sayg it expresses, as Hamlet says, thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls. Thomas Gray refers to this in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard when he says, Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest. Literature takes our half' formed thoughts, our suppressed moods, our stifled desires and leads them out in harmony and completeness. The person who would make literature the basis of a wellfrounded, humanistic selffeducation and have it as a guide through life should first approach literature itself, and seek what it has in common with him. It is unfortunate for stu' dents that literature is still taught from the fact side. The life of the author, the date of his work, and in the case of poetry, the meter employed have something to do with a book, but are all secondary. The first thing to do is to see in the book a reflection of yourself. When you do this twentyfthree