Foster holds the belief that reading literature is highly intellectual. Reading literature requires interpreting the various scenes laid before the reader by the author; because each context and scene described in literature has a superficial and a deep meaning, and these meanings differ based on the events taking place in each particular scene, interpreting these scenes requires a large amount of intellectual power. For instance, the typically mundane act of eating holds significant meaning to the plot of a piece of literature, therefore making it a key aspect of advancing the plot and examining the relationships between differing characters.
The setting also has a much deeper meaning than simply being where these events take place. The setting is often used to foreshadow events or express the emotions of characters. A “dark and stormy night” means more than the night being dark and stormy; instead, it foreshadows a tragedy or despair because of the innate human fear of drowning. The setting is used in a variety of ways to express thoughts and foreshadow events.
These attempts are in vain if the reader fails to understand the intellectual process of constructing these worlds of literature. In each setting and event is a myriad of minuscule details underlining the plot and the characters, driving them to act. Finding these details requires an immense amount of thought and understanding. To read like a professor requires the reader to want to understand and think to comprehend. Without this, true comprehension of the text can never be achieved; the reader will only understand the superficial aspects of the book. Reading literature by itself requires no amount of thought; understanding literature requires constant, evolving thought processes.
Dear Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI like your discussion here. I think that we have to remember too, that while reading is a very cognitive, intellectual activity, it is also creative. Foster talks a lot about the necessity of imagination too. Nabokov will also underscore this. I like that reading (and what we're really talking about here is ENJOYING reading) requires both the eye, and the brain, and the heart, and maybe even the spirit.
Mrs. Mac
Perhaps the different levels of looking at literature (both with and without deep thought) is what leads to so many people loving as well as hating literature. There definitely are people who over analyze a text, focusing too heavily on the intellectual aspect of a text. Likewise, never investigating sources of symbolism or deeper meaning can greatly inhibit a reader's ability to understand a text. Those who truly enjoy and savor literature are capable of viewing it both as an academic piece as well as a piece of art. This balance is important to maintain so that deeper symbols and themes can be discovered throughout a text, while still enabling the reader to understand the more human perspectives of the piece of literature.
ReplyDeleteJessica, I liked how you mentioned that reading literature requires a constant, evolving thought process and without it readers tend to pick up on the superficial aspects of the book. Analyzing a book definitely enriches the experience causing it to be more intellectually stimulating, and every time you read a book you always notice something new about it. Foster even stresses about how our engagement with literature is an ongoing process. We may not be able to exhaust all the literary conventions that exist, but that shouldn’t deter us from reading more books and even rereading them from time to time.
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