LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT. 42. JUDGING GOOD LITERATURE

LITERATURE -LIGHT AND DELIGHT

42. JUDGING GOOD LITERATURE

"All religions,arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it frm the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual toward freedom. It is no mere chance that our older universities  have developed from clerical schools. Both churches and universities - in so far as they live up to their true function- serve the ennoblement of the individual. They seek to fulfil this great task by spreading moral and cultural understanding, renouncing the use of  brute force."

Can one guess who could have said this? Some philospher? Some religious head? These are the words of Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist ever, uttered in 1937.These words capture for me the ideal of good literature: ENNOBLING MAN'S LIFE.

There can be no doubt 'ennobling' man's life is the basic function  and purpose of religion, though most organised religions have miserably failed in this. They pursue numbers instead. A person who is religiously enlightened is, again in the words of Einstein:

"liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts,feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their superpersonal value...

In this sense religion is the age-old endeavour of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect."

What then about science? Does it contradict religion in any way? Once again, let us turn to Einstein:

" But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion." 

Can we say that today 'science' is this unalloyed search for truth and understanding- science which is propelled by the greedy corporates and the power-hungry military-industrial complex? Science has forgotten truth, as religion has given up 'ennoblement' of man, but is merely interested in enrolment of numbers.

I like to think that this ground is still free for literature to claim! It can link both and succeed where they have failed. 

Outwardly, literature has also been changing in content and method, purpose and value. So many books are published, in so many languages on so many subjects. There are so many awards, prizes, accolades. There is the system of 'bestsellers'- phenomenal bestsellers, sensational bestsellers, etc. No one has a clear idea of what is happening out there.

But it is we who read and we can constantly ask or remind ourselves why we want to read literature? With so much of exposure to general scientific ideas and views, no educated person today can deny that what we read or see or interact with has an effect on us! Read ten modern philosophers of the mainstream, your life becomes thoroughly meaningless. Read five top scientists ( ten is t-o-o many)- we lose all sense of  certainty in anything. But turn to poetry or novel- we still have something to cherish. Science has thorougly dehumanised us. Philosphy has made us senseless. It is still literature that connects with us as human beings.

I have been repeatedly saying that much of modern writing is frivolous. It captures the ephemeral, or sensational and often caters to the baser instincts of man. But it need not unduly disturb us. Such writing never lasts. And with all this great books get written.

As a rule, I have never believed in the cult of the bestseller. I wait for at least 10 years before I look at fiction  of bestseller category! Unless a friend whose judgement I trust makes a strong push. Reading in the non-fiction category is guided by my interests and reviews and notices in publications I trust. In the 60s there were series like 'Mind and Matter' by Arrow Books, London ( in which I first read Paul Brunton's "A Search In Secret India" and his other books. But most of the other books were not  good.) Later, in the 70s and 80s, there was the Bantam 'New Age Books'.My main interest then was economics, but Gandhian writers like Richard B.Gregg, J.C.Kumarappa, Bharatan Kumarappa had raised enough doubts about the validity-even sanity of conventional economics. The Club of Rome came with some disturbing findings in the 60s. Then came "Only One Earth" by Rene Dubois and Barbara Ward, on the occasion of the 1972 UN Conference on Environment. We had then Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". Then came Schumacher with his "Small is Beautiful". His other books ' A Guide for the Perplexed' and 'Good Work' are also important. In this background, only a fool will still believe in conventional economics- a finding confirmed by others like David C.Korten ( See his: "When Corporations Rule the World."), Lester Brown, Herman Daly, etc. Though Fritjhof Capra became well-known for his Tao of Physics, his book "Turning Point" is very important to understand how all streams of conventional life- economics, governance, social arrangemnts etc are converging towards utter chaos. Society is proving to be ungovernable, just as vehicular traffic in Indian cities is proving to be unmanageable. In the 70s, William Rees-Mogg, the editor of Sunday Times wrote " The Reigning Error" , describing how modern govts were promoting inflation  in the name of growth , which was unsound; he diagnosed the basic problem as "INORDINACY"-  the absence of a self-limiting principle in economic and financial  organisation. It can indeed be extended to the whole sphere of human activity  on earth.

Modern science is tending toward a notion of the Universe which is basically incomprehensible.No body has the whole picture.Modern philosophy has made a mess of the very meaning of life. Modern religion has tended to be unspiritual. The very question of survival is assuming serious proportions for more than one third of the world population. But beyond that is the question of survival for the human race as a whole- ironically because of his achievement in science and technology. The scientists, economists, politicians, and other academics are amusing themselves with their petty theories, like children who are enjoying their fire-works during Diwali when the house itself is on fire! Nay, they are enjoying Diwali by setting fire to their dwelling! 

Amidst all this, it is only literature( so long as it is not science-fiction) which is still serving and saving us! May be, it is leading us to believe in an artificial atmosphere of our own creation, but just see: science and technology have reduced us to the status of automatons and morons, captives of the gadgets! It is still only literature which treats us as human beings and relates to us as such! To the extent it reminds us of our humanity, perhaps all literature has to be considered good! Let us recover our humanity, before we attempt to become noble- which is the ultimate purpose of all good literature!