BRIDGING THE GULF BETWEEN LITERATURE AND LIFE
Life and literature are inseparable. If life is real, then literature is virtual and imaginary. They complement, supplement, imitate and contribute to each other’s growth. From time immemorial when men started using their cognitive powers, they had started creating their own original literature which was nothing but the expression of their own experiences.
The speeches of pre-historic men were short, grisp and poetic in nature. Then they embedded the poems with signs, gestures and body language, and as a result a new genre of literature, “poetic drama” came into existence. When the Homo sapiens started talking for a long time, “poetic prose” was born. From this new type of literature, all other writings likes, articles, stories, letters, novels, etc. got their origin. Thus literature was aptly considered as the mirror of life.
Literature of a few languages like Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit etc. rose to the level of classics. These classical writings were the thoughts of the noblest minds in lofty style. Their writings dealt with joys, sorrows, morals, ethics, and ways of life. These masterpieces never failed to edify, entertain, and educate the minds of ordinary people throughout the world. Actually their lives and literature were one and they “drank life to the lees”.
The students of today lack ethics to guide their lives in future and to live their lives fully well. There is a gulf between their lives and the literature they learn. They should be educated in moral, social, political, and spiritual values. Both classical and modern literature possesses these values in plenty. In fact these values are taught to students from their school days onwards. The pity of it is that they don’t know how to use it in their lives. As a result of it evil behaviour spread like cancer among students and they get spoiled even at their tender age. Hence there exists a gap between their learning and lives.
How to bridge this ever-widening gulf between the precious lives of students and the literature they have learnt, remains a big question. Now let us consider a few problems and how to solve them.
The school children learn great poems, essays, letters, biographies of great men, stories, abstracts of novels and one act plays. They contain a lot of moral ideas to enrich, empower, improve and shape their future. In spite of learning great literature, the students do not knot how to use them in their lives. Further they forget what they learn in their school days and their learning is of no use in their future. John Donne opines that
“Knowledge that sleep doth die”
Confucius, a Chinese philosopher says that “Learning without thinking is labour lost”
From sixth standard to +2 levels, students memorize more than a hundred chosen poems amounting to a thousand lines of the classical as well as modern poems. More than that, they learn stories, essays, letters, and biographies of great men. After the exams are over the students forget everything blissfully and the teachers also fail to teach them how to utilize the treasure house of knowledge in their future.
The students can use the literature mastered by them in the following ways:
1. To solve their problems
2. To get peace of mind
3. To create their own literature
4. To change their behaviour and lives
5. To get happiness and
6. To entertain themselves
Great literature is the only panacea for all the ills of the human mind. Though they become old, the luster and beauty of them never fade away. As students grow old, they will find newer meanings according to their age and experience and comprehend the various shades or levels of meaning and enjoy them.
E.g. The words of Hamlet “To be or not to be”
These are mere words for school children. But when they grow older they will understand the real meaning of these words. The students who are enthused to read Shakespeare further will find solution to this question. If they understand the structure, style, selection of words and theme of literature, they would be induced to create their own literature.
E.g. Browning’s poem “Pippa’s Song”
The last two lines of the above poem have the power to subdue the negative emotions, and make one think in positive ways.
Once, a professor of literature commented that after twenty years of teaching literature only he came to know of the right method of teaching his subjects. Hence what the teachers need today is a change of mind and they should think seriously about their methods of teaching to bridge the gap between the students learning and life.
