What is Literature?
Literature is one of Fine Arts, like Music, Dance, Painting, Sculpture, as it is meant to give aesthetic
pleasure rather than serve any utilitarian purpose. There are two types of literature-applied literature
and pure literature.
Functions of Literature
1. The main function of literature is to entertain the readers, or, in other words, to give
them pleasure. Longinus was the first critic to lay down his thesis that loftiness or
sublimity in literature has its end-ecstasy, transport, 'lifting out of oneself'.
2. One important function is to heighten the awareness of the reader to certain aspects of
life. The dramatic poetry of the Greeks, the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides were created for festival and ceremonial occasions. They emended great
concourse of Athenian citizens of the traditional gods and heroes of history.
3. Literature also performs three subsidiary functions-'propaganda, 'release' and 'escape.'
'Propaganda literature ‘must be distinguished from mere propaganda in which there is
nothing creative. The writer of mere propaganda is simply concerned to popularize
facts, ideas, and emotions with which he is familiar. But propaganda that is literature is
a creative influence irradiating and transforming the writer's experience.
4. 'Release literature' is that in which the dominant motive of the writer is simply the
assuagement of starved needs, the release of pent-up forces in the personality.
Literature also provides 'escape' from the grim realities of life, and many people read to
escape boredom.
To sum up, the primary functions of literature are to delight the reader, and heighten
his awareness of life. The subsidiary functions are 'propaganda', release' and 'escape’:
but they are subordinated to the primary creative functions of literature.
Literature is one of Fine Arts, like Music, Dance, Painting, Sculpture, as it is meant to give aesthetic
pleasure rather than serve any utilitarian purpose. There are two types of literature-applied literature
and pure literature.
Functions of Literature
1. The main function of literature is to entertain the readers, or, in other words, to give
them pleasure. Longinus was the first critic to lay down his thesis that loftiness or
sublimity in literature has its end-ecstasy, transport, 'lifting out of oneself'.
2. One important function is to heighten the awareness of the reader to certain aspects of
life. The dramatic poetry of the Greeks, the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides were created for festival and ceremonial occasions. They emended great
concourse of Athenian citizens of the traditional gods and heroes of history.
3. Literature also performs three subsidiary functions-'propaganda, 'release' and 'escape.'
'Propaganda literature ‘must be distinguished from mere propaganda in which there is
nothing creative. The writer of mere propaganda is simply concerned to popularize
facts, ideas, and emotions with which he is familiar. But propaganda that is literature is
a creative influence irradiating and transforming the writer's experience.
4. 'Release literature' is that in which the dominant motive of the writer is simply the
assuagement of starved needs, the release of pent-up forces in the personality.
Literature also provides 'escape' from the grim realities of life, and many people read to
escape boredom.
To sum up, the primary functions of literature are to delight the reader, and heighten
his awareness of life. The subsidiary functions are 'propaganda', release' and 'escape’:
but they are subordinated to the primary creative functions of literature.
