04-09-2010, 04:13 PM
Quote:Hmmm. I really wonder what makes us think about the "quality" of literature. Literature IS. Whether it is "good" or "bad", "better" or "worse" is highly subjective, since it is simply a matter of taste. One could say "I like this one better than the other one", but saying "This is better than that" is a very stupid thing to do.
It´s a bit like playing four trumps: Whoa, my Nietzsche´s "Wille zur Macht" tops your Charles Dicken´s "Oliver Twist", I have a syntax complexity value of 10, a moral message value of 10 and a Philosophy Rating of 10. Owned!
Yes but the absence of such a narrow grading scale does not remove the ability to compare literatures as wholes. For instance one book can sound more dignified than another, can impress mighty emotions or be stale and listless, can deal with higher, more noble, or petty themes etc. There are certain objective criteria for measurement of literature. Now just because book A sounds more emotional and more dignified than book B does not mean that you are supposed to like it (our subjective responses may all be different). I'm just saying that this positive reaction has had a more numerical reaction among the Western public. Virgil's whole 12 books used to be memorized by heart at Latin secondary schools; I can't think of any modern poet that has met with as much numerical approval, or has been granted such distinctions.
Multi viri et feminae philosophiam antiquam conservant.
James S.
James S.
