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In the fast-moving world of technology, the question asked by Mr. Lerato Masiea, the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Lecturer, is more relevant today than at any other time. While, in the past, you would often see young ones holding novels in their hands, today, they are holding cell-phones, playing games.
“There are many more examples which could point to the disheartening present state of literature in many people’s minds,” Lerato said.
Which leads to a question, “Is literature still relevant?”
“It is,” is Lerato’s emphatic answer. “And our role is to remind the technologically minded kids why literature is a social tool that just can’t be replaced.”
Literature, he says, is more than just entertainment as many seem to think. Used right, it can encourage critical thinking skills, influence societal thinking, set examples for good citizenship and, as we shall see, offer solutions to patients’ problems.
First, let’s see what has encouraged Mr Lerato to ask the question. Of course we have already seen how today’s kids choose TV and cell-phone games over a good novel. There are other worrying trends. “Some people view reading a novel as something to do when they are bored,” he said. “In fact others credit reading literature for inducing sleep.”
In his literature classes at first year, he sometimes prescribes a single novel, only to find that a sizeable number of students have not finished it at the end of a semester. To make matters worse, many high schools in Lesotho have decided to drop literature off their curriculum.
Could it be that we live in a generation that no longer values literature—which views literature as irrelevant in modern times? “When students begin to major in literature in later years, I often ask them this question, to gauge their perceptions of why they chose literature, “why do you think literature is important?”” he said.
The answer is almost universal. Literature is good because it entertains. This answer by literature students worries him most. Well, there are many things with which to entertain ourselves. If literature is just a mere one of them, maybe, just maybe, we do not need it after all.
Now, let’s listen as he makes his arguments that indeed we still need literature.
First he quotes one Vice Chancellor of Wits University who referred to those working in or on literature as “the foot-soldiers of liberation”. Wait a minute. What the Vice Chancellor was saying is rich in meaning.
Have you ever heard of these words: a pen is mightier than a sword? With a mere pen, authorities have been challenged and those in power have been made to account.
A masterful author can achieve with a mere pen, what many would have taken up arms (with often disastrous consequences) to achieve.
Let’s consider examples: when Thomas Mofolo penned a literary masterpiece in the novel called Chaka, knowingly or unknowingly, he was challenging the long-held belief of the intellectual inferiority of a black race.
Think about George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Another literary masterpiece, the captivating book which tells the story of animals taking control of their own governance after overthrowing their human ruler was nothing more than a satirical depiction of the failures of communism whose perfect ideals and their implementation were always at odds.
Today, the phrase “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others,” which was coined in that book, is applied, not only against failed communist experiments but against the ever-present hypocrisy of political elites in all countries.
Another book cited by Lerato is titled The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. It was meant to criticise the corruption among Ghanian politicians of the time. However, “the authors weave their stories in a powerful yet captivating ways,” he said. “Corruption is depicted, not in straightforward terms, but in symbols.”
Literature, Lerato argues, can even influence readers’ characters. For instance, many authors often frame bad characters in such a way that the reader clearly sees consequences of their evil behaviours. In contrast, good characters are also rewarded. The lesson? We reap what we saw.
“In fact, I have concluded that there is no other area of human endeavour which takes a human being and treat him in his entirety, and shows how he relates to his environment, as literature,” he argued with passion.
For instance, in Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease,” the author depicts the life of man who leaves his country, Nigeria to study overseas and comes back to look down on Nigerian ways of doing things.
In the story, one learns to delay criticising others. Despite looking down on others back home, one begins to sympathise with this character when one realises that here is a man who has now seen both worlds and he judges things differently given his unique experiences. “In this regard,” Lerato says, “Literature teaches us to be critical thinkers.”
Even Psychotherapists, he said, have learned to use literature to find solutions to their patients’ adjustment problems. They sometimes prescribe books whose characters have experiences that mirror those of the patient. Even though the characters are fictional, the patient is healed through the appreciation that s/he is not the only one going through such experiences. This shows that literature has a scientific use.
“If you have cried when you see a character you love being mistreated in Muvhango (A local TV series) even though you know very well that that is fiction, then you are experiencing the power of literature,” he concluded.