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Alaka Rajeev 1930317

Prof. Dr. Abilash Chandran R
Introduction to Literary theory - EST 431
3 Feb 2021

Arguing for and against the first two tenets of Liberal Humanism using examples

Tenet One – “The first thing, naturally, is an attitude to literature itself; good literature is of
timeless significance; it somehow transcends the limitations and peculiarities of the age it
was written in, and thereby speaks to what is constant in human nature”

For the argument - The first tenet emphasizes the transient nature of literature and how the
‘good’ kind of literature are precisely those works that are transcendental and describe
universal themes or issues that will be understood by the entirety of humanity. The outlook
that literature seeks to create is about its accessibility to people of all kinds and how despite
us being divided by nationalistic boundaries, we still share this similar innate tendency to
ponder about and share a concern for similar issues that plague us.
A novel that I believe is suitable in supporting this argument will be ‘To Kill a
Mockingbird’ – Harper Lee talks about an issue that is so specific to the American
Depression-era context where racial prejudice and segregation was at their peak that only
Americans can be said to understand the specific contextual nuance but the success of the
book lies in the lessons that are present throughout the book that emphasize the idea of co-
existence – being empathetic to people that society has deemed to be ‘different’ from you.
Although India as a nation prides on its ability to depict ‘unity in diversity’, there has been an
increase in communal tensions of late given the influence of Hindutva politics that seeks to
depict ‘nationalistic’ fervor by advocating a nation only for the Hindus. The treatment meted
out to minorities in some parts of India and even within Hindus, the caste system continues to
dictate the lives of people especially in rural areas. So, even though the book specifically is
situated in the Depression-era South, the reader can connect the theme of injustice depicted in
the novel to their specific context which highlights how themes like injustice and prejudice
seem to continue to exist through the ages and how literature portrays that imbalance of
power and power relations in a society.
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Against the argument – Literature cannot be transcendental because we are all situated in
unique contexts and therefore the issues that concern us on an everyday basis cannot be
captured by literary classics that were published ages ago. Contemporary issues need to be
portrayed in a novel manner by adapting to the age and time the author or poet is situated in.
The search for constancy prevents new artistic conventions from taking shape and impedes
the expansion of the areas or themes that the literary world focuses upon.
An example of the kind of literary work that has garnered attention in recent times
that is not transcendental will be protest poetry – the use of protest poetry began in India
quite a long time ago with the rise of the Bhakti tradition and because of saint poets like
Kabir and Mira. The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 have
involved the use of protest poetry to convey the resistance of the large mass of people who
felt strongly about the implementation of this policy. Aamir Aziz’s poem – ‘Sab Yaad Rakha
Jayega, Sab Kuch Yaad Rakha Jaayega’ which is as follows was performed during such a
protest –
Tum zameen pe zulm likh do
(You write injustice on the earth)
Aasman pe Inqilab likha jaayega
(We will write revolution in the sky)
Sab yaad rakha jayega, sab kuch yaad rakha jaayega
(We will remember everything. We will not forget it at all)

The poem rightly conveys the agitation, the spirit of the masses and the air of dissent
that surrounded the protest regions. The protestors were speaking out against the brutality that
the students of JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia had experienced and the gross injustice of
targeting people because of the religion they practice as connected to CAA. The idea of
protest and expressing dissent especially through the use of such protest poetry is so powerful
because to harm categorically target and harm students will bring about a backlash, history
will remember this day for the atrocities that had been committed and the poet’s sentiments
are so suited to this incident and context that it cannot exactly be applied to a European
context for example. The way he has written the poem is also a call of action for protestors to
continue to speak up against the injustice, call out those who show inaction and how the fight
for truth will not and should not stop.
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Tenet Two – “The second point is the logical consequence of the first. The literary text
contains its meaning within itself. It doesn't require any elaborate process of placing it within
a context”

For the argument – The second tenet emphasizes how the literary text is complete in itself –
it seeks to highlight how everything one needs to know is present within the text itself and
that there is no need to seek further information beyond the text such as situating it in a
particular context to understand the text better. The words were chosen by the author or poet,
the structuring of the sentences, phrases or words, the usage of literary devices, the tone, the
punctuation – all of these details provides the readers with a complete understanding. It
emphasizes that one needs to read the text as to how it is rather than the broad context that
could have influenced the creation of the literary piece.
For example, E.E. Cummings’ works seem to represent the idea of the text is
complete in itself in terms of the information that the author wants to present in the best
manner because his poems are extremely avant-garde when it comes to the structure and how
he portrays his art and the themes that he selects can be very common but the meaning is
contained within the text itself. There isn’t a need for the reader to explore the socio-political,
literary-historical, and autobiographical contexts in his work because the essence of his art
and his flair stems from what we can see – the words on the paper, so, the analysis of his
poems are very textual in that sense. For example, his poem ‘If strangers meet’ looks as
follows –

If strangers meet
life begins-
not poor not rich
(only aware)
kind neither
nor cruel
(only complete)
i not not you
not possible;
only truthful
-truthfully, once
if strangers (who
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deep our most are

selves)touch:
forever
(and so to dark)

When it comes to analyzing this poem, one can infer that there are these strangers
who are interested in each other and the way the poem is structured seems to reflect the way
thoughts pop up in our minds. The reader can observe their interest in each other and you also
share and vicariously feel with the strangers, the newness of being interested in someone and
the exhilaration that one experiences thinking about it. But, there is no in-depth discourse
about this in the poem or the use of any phrases or words that might require one to search and
understand its meaning but what is on the text is what we are seeing and feeling. There is no
need for one to go beyond this text to dig deep into what the author particularly meant and in
fact, doing so will spoil the experience of having simply read this poem.

Against the argument – The literary text cannot be contained within itself because the
authors who write it have been exposed to a certain cultural milieu where they have
encountered numerous ideas, people and events and experiences that it might not be possible
to just consider the text without looking at the different contexts that potentially could have
influenced the meaning-making of the text and even at times may have influenced the author
to work on a particular literary piece.
To me whenever I read a text, it has almost become second nature to read about the
socio-political context because the personal is indeed political and every author is situated in
a particular socio-political context which influences what they decide to write about. The
text I think is an excellent example at highlighting the importance of the socio-political
context will be the postcolonial literary work ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy.
The caste system in Kerala has become a thing of the past but when it did exist before the
1990s and even now in certain places, it is important to know about it as someone who
belongs to the Malayali culture and I believe the story highlights a crucial caste-based
influence that is in-caste marriage with a person who practices the same religion which is
something one continues to observe in Kerala. The novel tells the readers about Ammu’s
story – Ammu is a widowed Syrian Christian women who has two children : Rahel and Estha
and the main crux of the story is her falling in love with Velutha who is a Hindu belonging to
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the lower, Dalit caste in Kerala story. The socio-political context in this particular novel is the
prominence of the caste system and how it dictated the lives of people in the town of
Ayemenam and in the larger context of Kerala and how Velutha was also increasingly
involved in the Communist movement that was gaining traction at that time. The ‘love laws’
which are laws that have been set up by society that dictates who it is acceptable to love had
prevented their union and even led to the tragic murder of Velutha. The story is extremely
striking especially if you are used to having perceived Kerala in a certain manner. The socio-
political context has to be observed and understood for this text otherwise it becomes difficult
to understand what the author is hinting at. Just reading the text will not expose you to the
large-scale issues and systems that the author is critiquing and hence the socio-political
context is of utmost importance here and this justifies my argument of how central a
particular context can be when it comes to understanding a piece of literature.
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Works Cited

Deol, Taran. “On World Poetry Day, a Look at India's Verses of Resistance.” ThePrint, 21
Mar. 2020, theprint.in/features/on-world-poetry-day-a-look-at-indias-verses-of-
resistance/384572/?amp.

Roberts, Linzie. “E.E. Cummings: The Power of Structure and Form - Owlcation -
Education.” Owlcation, Owlcation - Education, 1 Mar. 2015,
owlcation.com/humanities/EE-Cummings-The-Power-of-Structure-and-Form.