The What
are the Humanities? essay near
the end said: We find ourselves continually growing in our
understanding of self and each other as we each struggle to resolve
the tensions, only to discover that we are challenged to do it
again and again.
The "again and
again" is a good starting place for exploring the concept
of masterpiece or "greatness" in any work of art or
human expression. I believe, along with many others, that the
key to value lies in the inexhaustibility of the human expression
in question-in this course, literature.
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Think about the word. Inexhaustable. Something that cannot be exhausted. Like
a mine whose ore goes on forever, without limit or end. It's
wealth is there for all time and all people who avail themselves
of it. Keeping with the mining image for awhile, imagine such
a "mother lode" that keeps on producing. Sometimes
the vein of ore runs along or just under the surface, making
it easy for anyone to come along and dig into it. Other times,
the vein lies much deeper and requires more effort. Imagine that
the deepest veins are the richest that lead to the mother lode
herself.
It can also help us
appreciate a concept by looking at its opposite: in this case,
exhaustion. We all know that word very well. Think about
what it means to be exhausted. Use your imagination to recall
a time when you couldn't take one more step, study one more page,
come up with one more reason. There was simply nothing left inside.
No energy, physical or mental. We know what this is. Now imagine
that same emptiness transferred to something outside of you.
Let's get this down to the everyday. Think about having a taste
for your favorite chips-you decide the particular kind and brand.
You bought three bags just yesterday, and now you have a craving.
You go to the cupboard or pantry and find only one half bag left.
You think unkind thoughts about your roommate or your siblings
or parents. You take the half bag. In ten minutes the bag is
exhausted. Nothing left except half a craving.
Most of what passes
for art and general reading material is of the latter variety.
You look at it a hundred times or read it a dozen times or watch
it on video for a score of times and then at some point, that's
it. There's nothing left in it to entertain or to nourish. These
are not the materials you want on the proverbial desert island
with you when your boat sinks and it's six months to rescue.
Inexhaustible means
that you can go back to the painting, book, film, or game innumerable
times and still discover something. It still 'delivers.'
What produces inexhaustibility? I doubt
that any complete answer can be given-hence the concept itself.
Several characteristics do seem to be involved, however:
Craftsmanship--most people recognize this. We appreciate
something well executed. Each art form has its ways of working
its materials. The trick, of course is that often what is later
viewed as "great" is overlooked in its own time because
of unique ways of creating.
Originality-most works earning this label bear a unique
stamp. There may be a hundred other examples of the art form,
but this one stands out for freshness of approach in handling
materials, in message, in what is included or excluded.
Meaningfulness-this one may seem most subjective. However,
over time, the audience for the work tends to agree that something
of significance emerges. The piece has "theme," "meaning,"
"value." Part of what this refers to is the addressing
of the eternal questions and conflicts discussed above.
Complexity-some people may disagree with me here.
The hallmark of genius in art or wisdom is often simplicity.
However, such simplicity when confronted repeatedly has many
and varied reverberations. When combined with craftsmanship,
originality, and significance, simplicity may produce a multi-layered
result. It resonates, and it keeps doing so.
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The biggest challenge
when approaching these so-called masterpieces is that our own
responses often vary from those of the experts, current and past.
I might find myself bored. The work just does not interest me.
I do not do the things the characters do, and I might not care
about what they care about.
I might not understand it. The language might be difficult or
unfamiliar. The people think differently than I do. I might be
unfamiliar with the ideas and customs.
No matter how inexhaustible other people consider it, I just
might not find the reading relevant to my life. Come up with
your own roadblocks. I'm sure you can think of ones I haven't.
Each of the above challenges
can block our pleasure in reading or viewing. Thus there is another
qualification we might add to the list of what makes something
inexhaustible:
Appeal
to knowledgeable audience-maybe
this is unfair. Is it a quality of the work or a quality of the
audience? Probably both.
As a quality of the work, this characteristic might fall
under "meaningfulness" above. The work assumes an audience
of some kind of background, knowledge, and interest. It also
delves into issues that go beyond the concerns of a particular
time and place. No one work can say everything about a subject,
so something must be assumed. Great works tend to appeal to 'educated'
audiences on some levels and to all humanity on others.
As a quality of the audience, knowledge means that the
viewers or readers have background information and experience
that them access to many levels of the work.
This last kind of knowledge is a variable you and I can do something
about. We can learn. We can become educated.
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Why should we bother?
We don't really have to, I suppose. However, in my experience,
the longer people live the more they seem to be dissatisfied
with their first choices in life. They have exhausted those very
skills and training that they originally thought were most relevant
earning a living. They often discover that these things are not
enough. Thinking people become more thoughtful as they go along.
I do know that people
in all ages of history and in all places and cultures have produced
art, including forms of literature. Art goes beyond mere survival
and aims at growth of the soul. It touches the deepest places
in us precisely because it is universal. It comes out of the
deepest places, too. Few artists can adequately articulate where
"their art" comes from, and few viewers/readers can
articulate just what it is they get out of participating in experiencing
it.
Art comes
out of deep feeling and addresses our emotions.
Art comes out of thought and addresses our thinking.
Art comes out of questions and addresses our concerns.
It struggles to identify and clarify values and challenges us
to do so.
It rejoices in its own capacities through its medium and invites
us to do the same.
It entertains.
It plays
It probes.
It challenges.
It holds up a mirror for us to look into.
It creates possible worlds.
It exposes real ones.
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What does all this
mean? We can meet the art we experience with all the intellectual
and psychological equipment we have because it will stretch us
even further. Ultimately, experiencing art of any medium is an
adventure both out of and into ourselves if we develop helpful
approaches.
Honestly now, in your
journal, jot down your usual ways of responding to "great"
literature or art. How do you approach it? What happens when
you have difficulty understanding or maintaining interest? How
did you respond to the above discussion?
APPROACHES TO
STUDY
As we study the humanities-history,
philosophy, literature, the arts-a critical approach is most
productive.
The
most important step in this critical stance and one helpful for
gaining practical insight is the practice of "temporary,
willing suspension of disbelief."
a)
"temporary": this
is important to remember, especially when reading stories and
ideas we do not like or agree with. There is a difference between
simple, uncritical absorption of any idea that crosses the mind
and deliberate suspension of disbelief. The principle of temporariness
means that I deliberately set aside my judging mind for the purposes
of understanding. Once I have a sense of the whole piece, including
its logic and its less easy-to-describe "feel," then
I can begin to critique.
b) "willing"
is another important term that
assumes deliberation on my part. I have a purpose in "going
along" with the writer for a period of time in order to
understand "from the inside out," so to speak.
c) "suspension
of" means that I set aside
something. I stop it-not permanently-because I intend to resume
the activity after a time, when my purpose is reached.
d) "disbelief" is what I am suspending and just temporarily.
I decide not to sit in judgment or to let my natural skepticism
take over. I go along. For a short time, I play the "believer"
in order to understand what the believer believes, and-more importantly-why.
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How
do I practice this in positive terms? From the above, I see what
I am not supposed to do; however, what do I do?
a)
I decide to go on an adventure of discovery.
b) I assume that there is something worthwhile in it for me. After all, most of the literature in anthologies
is selected because knowledgeable and sensitive people have discovered
worth in it for themselves and for people in general; they have
made the selections after much comparison and soul-searching
and consultation with expert colleagues. Most of the selections
have been highly valued over time and geography.
c) I keep going.
If a section of a reading is
tough for me, I read on till I find something I can grab onto
and then slow down and let that sink in. I work with the writer
rather than against the writer and the ideas. I keep going.
d) I read the
background sections carefully, underlining concepts that will
help me understand the reading ahead.
Then I skim the reading, getting a sense of the whole.
Finally, I come back to it more slowly, underlining
and making notes about parts that illustrate the terms
in the background material and in background essays like this
one. I mark the "eternal questions" and conflicts.
I make note of character names and major plot developments
or-in non-narratives-in lines of thought.
e) Only when
I think I really have a grasp on the piece do I let the "disbelief"
back in and begin to evaluate the ideas that emerge.
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This is how I read a piece. Really.
As your instructor
in a survey course, I do not consider myself an expert so much
as I consider myself an experienced academic reader. For the
purposes of general education, as well as a starting place for
a major in literature, an experienced guide is probably most
useful. My formal education has focused in English literature-as
in England/Great Britain. My informal but fairly systematic studies
have included American literature, especially of the last two
centuries, modern European literature, Russian literature, and
most recently 20th Century Latin American authors.
My current practice
is mostly interdisciplinary teaching of undergraduate students
as well as facilitating creative writing among adult students
of varied backgrounds.
Because I teach mainly
general education requirements, I have discovered that expertise
is elusive in constantly changing broad fields of literature.
Therefore, I am mostly a seeker and am delighted to be one.
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