Literature as an Important Source of History

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Literature is art. It is like an effervescent tapestry that is woven from the profound crevices of a person’s mind, over white paper and ink. As much as we develop over the next few generations, the beauty of reading and story-telling is something that will never remain latent. It’s versatile, to say the least. It doesn’t just allow us to create a reality that is different from our own, allowing us to step into the creative pockets of the writer’s mind but it also offers so much more. Literature enables people to take a deeper look at the many aspects of life outside of what they know and live, which allows a shift in perspective. It is through perusing extraordinary abstract and graceful works, that one gets life.

One of the most notable features of literature is how diverse it can be. It isn’t only limited to creating alternate universes. It expands over to so many more things whether it’s biographies of all the greatest people who have existed or true stories of people living through wars. Literature is a creation of the writer's imagination, which was shaped by the environment in which he lived. To create a distinct, changing world for readers, they draw inspiration from myths, tales, and history.

Writers of literature also keep track of circumstances. Even when they accurately depict historical events, their primary goal is to communicate to the reader their intellectual and emotional perception of those events. It creates a sort of passage of time as it allows us to travel through different generations of people, living the lives that they lived. Literature is such a good source of history, its philosophical essence wrapped around timeless centuries. Every novel, drama, or poetry that has ever been written has been impacted by political context, historical period, or some sort of connection from the time it was written. Literature sows the seeds of our history.

History isn’t simply characterised by wars and events and dates. It's about people who are products of their era and who have their own lives. The world is constantly evolving; individuals have changed dramatically. Poetry, essays, novels, and short stories all contribute to our understanding of human nature and the situations that impact everyone. They provide readers with a look into the minds of the writers, which facts and numbers cannot. Novels are also strong opinion shapers, capable of instilling beliefs in subsequent generations. It can provide personal insights into historical events that more formal sources miss, allowing for new perspectives on problems like gender identity, diversity, sexuality, and so on and so forth. A reader may interact with history in a unique way via literature. A reader is exposed to viewpoints from the period of the text's production, even if the book is fictitious and does not focus on a specific event. We discover that normalcy isn't necessarily dull and that imperfection isn't always terrible. Literature is necessary for us to connect with each other and with our previous generations.

Poetry that is taught in school, for instance, highlights the different issues that the poets faced back when they were written. “Chimney Sweeper” and “London” by William Blake, for instance, both depict the disastrous effects of industrialisation and its dangerous effects on the population. Gerard Hopkins beautifully intertwines his pagan faith and love with how the second industrial revolution managed to successfully contaminate that. “As a Team’s Head Brass” by Edward Thomas outlines the dark effects of war while Seamus Heaney’s, ‘At a Potato Digging’, summarises the horrors of the aftermath of the terrible Irish famine that Ireland faced.

This versatility can be found equally in books and stories. Other than the obvious scriptures and non-fictional books which provide very real and true insights into different concepts, fictional books can expand over those different domains and literature does the job of delivering those messages even through fiction. Both historical fiction, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ as well as ‘The Book Thief’, beautifully highlight the barbarities of war through the eyes of innocent young children. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird ’, one of my personal favourites, underlines the severe racism that persisted in The USA during the time of the Great Depression. ‘1984’, by George Orwell, another one of my favourites, reflects how the author believed life was like around that time, with the government keeping a suffocating track on everyone’s activities. What’s jarring about this novel is that Orwell got his inspiration from actual events that occurred at the time- which is more than enough for the reader to understand that life was, at one point, that suffocating. Jane Austen’s classic “Pride and Prejudice” as well as Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House”, both talk about the subservience of women and their inferior role in society, allowing us to have a very strong understanding of people’s lives and ways of living.

Literature allows individuals to perceive the world through the eyes of others, and occasionally even inanimate things; as a result, it serves as a window into how others see the world. It’s very intriguing and impressive to me how writers sublimate their work so creatively, managing to link different aspects of the hardships that are being faced by their respective generations. It's a voyage that's written on paper and propelled by the reader's imagination.