Why Study Literature?
By Dr. Andrew Helms
GCCA Upper School Teacher
Why is the study of Literature in the Logic and Rhetoric stage so important? It doesn’t have any obvious connection to making money, feeding the hungry, or sheltering the poor.
It can be challenging, as well: It may take a lot of time and careful application, for students to parse out the meaning of long passages that are not written in a contemporary dialect. Many important works are written in archaic styles that use “outdated” vocabulary words, such as “thou,” “thee,” or “ye.” Our 10-12th grade Rhetoric school Literature class is finding this to be especially true, in connection with Milton’s Paradise Lost…. For, Milton was deliberately cultivating archaism!
At GCCA, students are required to engage with old books, almost every week. For example, we read Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Spenser’s Faerie Queene, Beowulf, Dante’s Divine Comedy,and many others… — From a utilitarian or pragmatist perspective, this whole pursuit will definitely be counted as a waste of time….!
At GCCA, Literature classes are devoted to the study of primary sources. While there may not be a clearly-defined, signed and sealed “western canon,” we still recognize the existence of an ongoing, more-or-less continuous literary tradition that stems from Christian commitment. This tradition often harkens back, with carefully-cultivated allusion, to many ancient or classical sources that reflect God’s truth in various ways even though they were written by non-Christians (as Dante refers to Virgil, or as Milton to Homer). Real openness to God’s truth wherever it may be found, gives us freedom to read appreciatively and discerningly from a wide array of sources outside the Bible — and not just the “western” ones, either!
Literary study is not simply about the past. It’s about the present, and the future. We read beautiful literary works in order to see the unfolding beauty of God’s world for ourselves, in a new way! “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth…” (Isaiah 43:19). We read so that we ourselves may write beautifully…. Why shouldn’t we ourselves be writing great poetry? Why shouldn’t we be producing texts that will be studied one day? Why not novels, or short stories… perhaps even lays or ballads!
The rhythms of good poetry are intrinsically fitted to be sung or chanted, in worship of God. The rhymes, alliterations, assonances, consonances, and other metric or sonic features of poetry as read, will do something for the soul that can’t be accomplished in any other way. As we read out loud, carefully and devotedly, our own soul will be charmed to participate more wholeheartedly in worship, praise, and thanksgiving. It will be drawn more fully into the intricate “dance” of all things within God’s design. (—An allusion to C. S. Lewis’s Perelandra).
As we participate in human culture, we participate in the project of seeing the beauty that’s actually there in God’s world. And we may create new beauty as well. As J. R. R. Tolkien put it — we are “sub-creators” who draw upon the resources of the primary world — God’s world — in order to make new things. And this process always takes place under Christ’s lordship and providence, under the normative authority of His truth…. The touchstone of all things.
In my literature classes, students have opportunities to tell stories from their own lives, giving them practice for the future. In my classroom, I keep a small canteen that I call a “MacGuffin,” that functions as a repository for small objects. These are objects that students may find in the course of their ramblings, around which to weave their stories …. of which students have many! Their exciting lives are abundantly gifted in sparkling and shining moments: including Christmas or Advent celebration, dinosaur bones, horseback-riding, sports competition, country music, contra-dancing, metamorphic rock, trees, and — of course — tangible relics from their academic studies with friends. For those unaware, a “MacGuffin” is really just… a certain kind of plot device! The “One Ring” from J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic is a “MacGuffin.”
Students in my Literature classes get the opportunity to apply themselves with love to the primary texts mentioned above. A wide-ranging curiosity that asks every real question is always welcome. A contemplation of God’s beauty and truth is the goal…. A devotion that grows, over the course of an entire lifetime.
Ultimately, we tell stories because God himself loves stories. We have a God who narrates; who truthfully describes what he is doing in history, in a way that gives new life to readers. The Gospel itself — the good news by which God is redeeming his creation from the ravages of sin — is a story. One of which it may be gladly said, by every Christian: “This is MY story — this is MY song.”