"To produce a mighty work, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be that have tried it." - Herman Melville

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Catharsis

I realize that though I have been treating Monday night as the end of the week-end, due to the holiday, that it does not follow that the grading week should also be extended. Luckily, I caught myself in time.

Though not to the purpose of pleasing Aristotle, or Stacey for that matter, while we are discussing the value of literature, I thought I might once again throw in with those who contend a major value, though not the sole, of literature is its potential use as a cathartic medium. There is obviously, I think, a degree to which the strength and magnitude of an emotional release is lessened when it is the product of reading literature, even, I contend, non-fiction. Despite this, emotional releases of any degree of severity are essential to our mental well-being. The number of mechanisms by which we achieve this is quite large but one common medium, and effective, is that of literature.

No comments:

Post a Comment