Literature and Political Action

Literature and Political Action

For the past twenty years or so, the study of literature has been dominated by formal analysis. We have been told to examine carefully the structure, imagery, and tone of a literary work, so that we can see the novel or the poem as an artifact which creates its own world and is only incidentally a reflection of the world of every-day experience. As a result, many people have felt that literature is becoming removed from the moral issues we face in everyday life. Contemporary criticism has been called a mere game for aesthetes, and from time to time prominent critics and novelists issue statements advocating that literature once again be related to our moral concerns….

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