A Literary Feeling

“If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur, ‘Thou still unravished bride of quietness,’ then I am instantly aware I am in the presence of the literary. I know this because the texture, rhythm and resonance of your words are in excess of their abstractive meaning- or, as the linguists might more technically put it, there is a disproportion between the signifiers and the signifieds. Your language draws attention to itself, flaunts its material being, as statements like ‘Don’t you know the drivers are on strike?’ do not. “

-Eagleton

I found an unarguable definition of literature in Eagleton’s idea. You can feel it when you read literature. Your mind is working. Your thoughts are moving through the words as you read them and new ideas occur at an alarming frequency. You find yourself submersed in “Ah-Ha!” moments because your brain is combining the abstract meaning of the words on the page with your past experiences. Reading a piece of literature is stimulating, even if you don’t like the work.

Feeling out literature is as easy as reading Keats’ poem and then reading the TV Guide. What do you feel while reading Keats versus what do you feel while reading what time Nip/Tuck starts? You get information from the TV Guide but no stimulation, no abstract words creating new ideas. I think we live for those moments when our mind makes connections and creates an idea. Humans need stimulation and we get that every time we read a piece of literature.