Some people might like to dismiss the arts, including literature, as frivolous. They like to think in terms of what is "practical," especially if it means making money. But I contend the arts are among the most important creations in all human cultures.
Literature has not only reflected cultures, but helped to shape and even move them. Think of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The novel brought the reality and horror of slavery to life for people who may have been indifferent before and was at least partly responsible for the move to end slavery in the United States.
Western culture has been shaped, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill, by the great religious literature contained in the Koran and in the Bible. Eastern cultures have likewise been influenced by their great religious literature. The mythology of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and others continues to matter today.
Shakespeare has been one of the most influential people in human history.
I was thinking of Barbara Tuchmann's history The Guns of August. President John Kennedy had read the book and what he learned from the book influenced him during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy took a calm and measured approach to the crisis when many of his generals were ready to hurl us into a war that could have resulted in a nuclear conflagration. So Barbara Tuchmann, in an indirect way, may have saved us from nuclear annihilation.
No comments:
Post a Comment