Literature: Why It Matters

by Robert Eaglestone

'Facts alone are wanted in life, ' exclaims Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Dickens' Hard Times. Literature is not about facts alone, and - despite two and a half thousand years of arguments - no one can agree on what it is, or how to study it. But, argues Robert Eaglestone, it is precisely the open-ended nature of literature that makes it such a rewarding and useful subject.

Eaglestone shows that studying literature can change who you are, turning you from a 'reader' into a 'critic' someone attuned to the ways we make meaning in our world. Literature is a living conversation which provides endless opportunities to rethink and reinterpret our societies and ourselves. With examples ranging from Sappho to Skyrim, this book shows how literature offers freer and deeper ways of thinking and being.

Genres: Nonfiction

123 pages, Paperback

Published March 25, 2019

About the author

Robert Eaglestone (born 1968) is a British academic and writer. He is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought in the Department of English at Royal Holloway, University of London. He works on contemporary literature, literary theory and contemporary European philosophy, and on Holocaust and Genocide studies.

His work explores how literature ‘thinks’, especially in relation to issues of ethics. This was the subject of his first book, Ethical Criticism: Reading After Levinas, on literary theory and the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. This focus on ethics broadened to a concern with ethical relationships to the past, centrally the Holocaust, other genocides and atrocities, in The Holocaust and the Postmodern. His work draws on memory studies and trauma studies, as well as on the thought of Jacques Derrida and Hannah Arendt.

He works widely on contemporary literature, including Salman Rushdie and J. M. Coetzee and is the author of Contemporary Literature: A Very Short Introduction. In that book he writes:

Literature thinks. Literature is where ideas are investigated, lived out, explored in all their messy complexity… Perhaps… ‘think’ is not the right word: ‘think’ is too limiting a description of the range of what a novel can do with ideas. In any event, the way literature thinks is bound up with what it’s like to be us, to be human. Literature is how we make ourselves intelligible to ourselves. And contemporary fiction matters because it is how we work out who we are now, today.

He is also concerned with the teaching of literature, and has written the text book Doing English, a Guide for Literature Students; edits a series of books introducing major thinkers, Routledge Critical Thinkers, and is a commentator in the national press on literature teaching at school and in Higher Education.

He lives in Brixton, London, and has two children.

Reviews

[Una pila de llibres]

Aquest assaig és una delícia, l'he acabat i està ben subratllat. Quin gust començar l'any amb una lectura tan bona!

[Gerard]

Hi ha llibres que et canvien. De fet, el pessigolleig que pots sentir en aquest tipus de llibres és un dels que et proporciona més plaer com a lector perquè, en definitiva, és el que voldries que passés a cada llibre que llegeixes. Per desgràcia, s’ha de reconèixer que això no passa sempre i fins i tot diria que és una excepció més que no pas un fet habitual; és aquest fet excepcional el que al mateix temps et permet reconèixer-ho pràcticament a l’instant sense cap mena de dubte. Per aquesta raó, les primeres pàgines de La literatura: Per què és important? són la millor carta de presentació d’un elogi a la literatura argumentat i precís que sobrepassa i supera amb escreix altres textos similars perquè Robert Eaglestone fa alguna cosa més que una defensa gremial, escriu convençut —i convencent— a partir d’un amor incondicional cap a la literatura. Eaglestone no s’amaga, té una missió clara i diàfana que no és altra que fixar en l’imaginari del lector la importància de la literatura. Alguns podran pensar que aquesta defensa desacomplexada de Robert Eaglestone, catedràtic de Literatura i Pensament Contemporanis a la Universitat de Londres, és el que li toca com a professor de literatura, però més enllà d’una certa idealització de la literatura —l’academicisme desapassionat encara és molt pitjor—, Eaglestone serveix amb elegància i sense l’embafament dels contes de fades un elogi de la literatura per a tots els públics. A la vegada, la glossa d’Eaglestone es veu reforçada per la presentació del fet literari com la metàfora d’una conversa en què especialistes, estudiants i públic lector hi tenen alguna cosa a dir, cosa que li atorga aquesta pàtina democratitzadora que sens dubte és una de les característiques consubstancials de la literatura. En aquest sentit, és obvi que cal aplaudir l’esforç pedagògic d’Eaglestone a l’hora de bastir un discurs sobre la literatura que aconsegueix fer reflexionar el lector al voltant del fet literari al mateix temps que obre un diàleg franc sense límits que torna a reforçar la metàfora de la conversa que tan encertadament planteja Eaglestone. Així mateix, també és destacable l’estructura de la qual es serveix l’autor; ho és precisament perquè cada capítol és un pas necessari i imprescindible per presentar la idea de literatura d’Eaglestone, per la qual cosa es referma la idea que darrere de l’exposició de l’autor hi ha una profunda reflexió del fet literari.
En definitiva, Eaglestone presenta un assaig brillant sobre la importància de la literatura que duu al lector a la reflexió, cosa que en si mateixa ja pot considerar-se un èxit d’Eaglestone; d’aquesta manera, el plantejament és honest amb la idea troncal del llibre i permet que el lector continuï la conversa iniciada per l’autor, que allarga la mà a Eaglestone la mà en sentir-se implicat en el diàleg —aquí cal remarcar la importància del concepte. Així doncs, el llibre s’acaba convertint en un punt de partida —una altra de les idees clau d’Eaglestone—, raó per la qual no queda altra que recomanar-ne la lectura per estendre aquest diàleg i enriquir-lo amb una pluralitat de veus que participi en un feedback que retroalimenti tota la comunitat lectora.

[Lucas]

This book was okay. Eaglestone, in chapter one, offers the idea that Literature is a sort of living conversation - we, as readers, converse with written texts by interpreting them and add to conversations by writing ourselves. I largely agree with this and use this to describe what Philosophy is as well - it is a sort of Great Conversation, spanning over vast spatio-temporal grounds.

Eaglestone then introduces what it is to study literature - to read closely - which I found largely uninteresting and obvious.

The penultimate chapter focuses on why literature matters - it gives meaning to our lives and literary tools themselves help us to better explain and interpret our experiences. I think this is a bit restrictive - while literature certainly does these things, it can also do far more. Philosophical fiction, especially, not only gives us both of these things, but helps us to inform and critically evaluate our worldviews.

The final chapter talks about what literature teaches us. It largely focuses on how literature, rather than being an alternative to career-focused studies like STEM, also prepares people for the workforce. By having studied literature, we prepare ourselves to be effective workers in the future, not in virtue of knowledge, as may be with case with STEM degrees, but due to learned skills and abilities. Again, I wasn't too enamoured with this section. Literature is important for many reasons but preparing people for the workforce is one of the least important. Obviously it is necessary that people learn how to contribute to the workforce so long as we live in a capitalist society, but it seems to me that literature is important because of the things mentioned in the previous chapter, rather than this one.

[Jon Margetts]

Concise and informative book on the nature of literature and why the study of it is important. It's a vital book for any student of English, or anyone who wants to become part of the world's wider conversation.

Interestingly, Eaglestone makes strong arguments against the 'narrow curriculum' and the Gradgrindian culture of education that pervades schools at the moment, although I think more awareness of why this culture is currently making a comeback (for example: the deprofessionalisation of teachers; the dwindling numbers of specialist English graduates and NQTs) is needed. For someone so knowledgeable about English and its history, the characterisation of 'traditional' teaching as just being the offshoot of narrow-minded educators such as Michael Gove sells the reader short a little bit.

Not to mention, there are some worthy merits and values behind a 'narrow curriculum' which aren't addressed: empowering pupils to improve their 'outcomes' through better examination results greases the engine of social mobility quite well, and is quite a noble aim. That said, I do think the idea of English as a conversation (activity based - individualistic) is more likely to inspire individuals to study it, empower their own sense of an identity, and contribute towards greater social consciousness. In the end, as a teacher, what else can you do but try your best to strike a balance?

[Marjolijn]

Ik heb weinig nieuwe inzichten opgedaan rondom de immer boeiende vraag: "Wat is literatuur?". En dat het antwoord op die vraag zo lastig is te formuleren vind ik tegelijkertijd een van de boeiendste dingen aan bezig zijn met literatuur.

Maar om toch mooi af te sluiten:
"What you will learn from your conversation with literature will enable you to join the conversation with the world." (p. 104).

Dit is overigens ongeveer wat ik mijn leerlingen duidelijk probeer te maken als we literatuur behandelen.

[Chloe McLevie]

I mean it was okay. When I read non-fiction books such as this one (and even to an extent fiction books) I want to finish the book thinking about the world in a different way. And unfortunately, Eaglestone didn't present any ideas that I will continue to mull over after finishing this essay.

[mollie]

3.5 ⭐️’s* (Very Good).

[Leona]

This book literally encapsulates the joys of literature in the least pretentious, and most accessible way possible!! Love it

[Abdur-Raheem Modan]

A Good Introduction To Literary Studies

A fairly accessible, if sometimes (inevitably) vague, entry into the study of literature. Eaglestone writes in a way that does not daunt, but rather clarifies and informs without seeming to patronise.