Introduction to LITERATURE

LITERATURE CONCEPT OF LITERATURE What is Literature? i. In a broader aspect, Literature can be defined as any written or spoken material. ii. In a narrow sense, Literature is a writing which expresses and communicates thought, feelings and attitudes towards life.

SERIES NO. 1 Refers to ethical and moral story which mostly involves animal characters; These stories considered as group, for example a story book which is called Kalulu The Hare by Frank Worthington shows different of stories of Hare and other animals. Themes in fables are often directly stated. o

iii. In Most often, Literature refers to creative works in the form of FICTION, (Poetry, Prose and Drama) i.e. It excludes non-fictional works commonly regarded as part of literature.

Myth

Stories that believed to be sacred which mostly involve supernatural characters, for example, the Sukuma tribal story of ogre “Shing’weng’we” Or

iv. However, simply, Literature is a work of art which uses words or language to convey the intended information to an audience or a reader. For instance, novel, poetry, drama, broadcast compositions such as films and television programs are also included in literature. The author or writer uses the words artistically to create a story which reflect social realities (political, social, economic and cultural issues within the society) to the reader or audience. TYPES OF LITERATURE A.

A myth is a traditional story of anonymous origin. Many myths are about the creation of earth; others are about love, adventure, trickery, or revenge. In many myths, human action is controlled or guided by gods, goddesses, and other supernatural beings. o

Legend

Stories which believed to be based on real people and events, and also believed to have some historical basis and true and, mostly involve heroic human character

In terms of MODE of presentation (forms of literature)

i. Oral literature (sometimes is called “Orature”)

 Sayings

 In its broad sense,

Words or statements which believed to be true and wise Proverbs

The term literature may include ritual texts, curative chants, epic poems, musical genres, folk tales, creation tales, songs, myths, spells, legends, proverbs, riddles, tongue-twisters, word games, recitations, life histories or historical narratives.

A well – known phrases or sentences that give advice or say something that is generally true, and sometimes have hidden meaning

 In Most simply, Refers to any form of verbal art which is transmitted orally or delivered by word of mouth.

ii. Written literature

Example of some oral literature;

Refers to any form of non-verbal art which is transmitted through written materials such as books, documents, papers, animal skin, papyrus, terracotta, board etc.

 Folktale

B.

An anonymous traditional story passed down orally long before being written down. Folktales include animal stories, trickster stories, fairy tales, myths, legends, and tall tales.

Literature can either be Fiction or Non – fiction

Elements of a folktale include folk beliefs, a past or faraway setting, flat characters, and predictable endings o

Fable

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In terms of REALITY

i. Fiction A type of literature that describes imaginary people and events, not real ones Hence, fictional literature may include genre such as; drama, prose and poetry. For example, a novel called Un Answered

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LITERATURE Cries by portray story which is not real, however, it reflects most of African societies which practise genital mutilation in reality, and Sierra Leon, Temne tribe as an example. ii.

Non – Fiction

SERIES NO. 1 Refers to the central or main idea in a story, for example, poverty, role of women, conflict are some of the themes which can be found in a particular work of literature. iv.

Point of view

A type of literature that describes about real facts, people and events,

Refers to the position of a narrator in telling a story within a work of literature,

For example, a poem called We will call no Christmas ceasefire by Kajubi portray real event which happened on the eve of Christmas 1975, the MPLA of Angola announced that it was not going to call a ceasefire for Christmas in the struggle against UNITA and FNLA.

The relationship of the narrator to the story, most writing is written from the first-person, third person objective, third-person limited, or third - person omniscient point of view 

A story is portrayed by a narrator who is also a character within a story. For example, the use of “I”, “we”, “mine”, “our”, “me”, “us” and “ours”

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE These simply refer to basic features which make literature; generally refer to the things that make up a work of literature and its component parts.



i. Character(s) (actor or actress in film)

a) Main Character; vital or important character to the development of the story. A good example of main character is Remi from a play called The Black Hermit by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.



v. Main or Minor Characters can be described as;

Setting

Refers to a place where an events or a story take place. Setting is built by elements such as; Place; Morogoro, School Time; Night, Morning Weather; Cold, winter Historical period; past, present and Cultural milieu; Urban, diverse, USA iii.

Theme

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third - person omniscient narrative A story is portrayed by a narrator who is not one of the characters in the story but he or she expresses every action done by the characters in the story as well as all their feelings and thoughts. He knows everything about all character. (All knowing)

c) Flat / Static character; a character who does not undergo substantial change or growth, for example, Abessolo in the play namely Three Suitors One Husband by O. Mbia

ii.

third-person limited

A story is portrayed by a narrator who is not one of the characters in the story but he or she expresses about all actions done by characters and she or he has a permission to express feelings and thoughts of only one character in the story

b) Minor Character; a character who serves to complement major character in the story. A good example of minor character is Stranger from a play namely This Time Tomorrow by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

e) Round character; a well-developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits

third-person objective narrative

A story is portrayed by a narrator who is not one of the characters in a story but he or she expresses only about all actions done by the characters in the story and not their feelings or thoughts.

Refers to a person or an object or an animal portrayed in a book, play or film

d) Dynamic Character; a character who changes during the course of a story

first-person narrative

vi.

Plot

It is an arrangement of events in a series of events (sequence) from the beginning of a particular story up to the end. Series of events can be in stages as follows; 

The beginning

Starting of issues that led to the development of a conflict; The plot begins with the exposition, or the introduction of the characters, the setting, and the conflict. 

The climax

The highest point of conflict; The rising action adds complications to the conflict, leading to the climax, or emotional high point. 

Resolution

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LITERATURE Solving or ending of a conflict; The climax gives way rapidly to its logical result in the falling action, and finally to the resolution, or dénouement, in which the final outcome is revealed. For example, Monica and her fellow students waited for a town bus to take them to their school (the Beginning). When the bus came conductor refused to take her and her fellows (Rising actions/complications). She tried to inter in the bus by force but conductor punched her face. Other students saw and decided to hit the conductor severely until the conductor lost his consciousness (Climax). Students run away fast from the incidents area and left the bus driver without a trace (Falling actions). The bus driver took his conductor to the nearby hospital for treatment (Resolution).  Voice Refers to the distinctive use of language that helps the reader understand the narrator’s personality Sometimes voice is determined by the author’s or narrator’s word choices (Diction). In other cases, voice is determined by tone, an author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter or audience, and mood, the emotional quality of a literary work.

Note: Literature is a work of art; however other works of arts are not literature due to the following reasons; i.

ii.

iii.

Literature primarily use language as its medium of composing a story or expressing ideas in novels, drama and poetry, however, material such as papers, papyrus, animal skins and other flat surface possible to be written on, while other works of arts such as; in drawing artist uses pencil, pens, ink, charcoal or pastels; sculpturing artist uses clay, wax, bronze, carving knife, wood or metal to make their arts. Literature can be preserved through oral traditional and other written material such as books, documents, papers, animal skin, papyrus, terracotta, board etc. While other works of arts can be stored in other form of storage, for example, painting cannot be stored oral however; it can be stored in cabinet, store room, shelf, photograph and other place suitable for storing them safely. Elements of literature is unique to other work of art, for example, literature is made up with elements such as; Characters, Themes, Setting, Plot and Point of view which are different from other works of arts like, painting, sculpturing, drawing, martial arts etc

iv.

Literature has mode of presentation which is different from other works of arts, for example, it can be traditional presented either by oral or written form, while art such as painting presented by 2 dimension figures or 3 dimensions perspective pictures.

v.

Literature use techniques which are different from other works of arts to achieve its intended message, for example, it employs techniques such as; language, structure, style, thematization, characterization, flashback etc to achieve its message intended to the readers or audiences, while, art such as oil painting use

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SERIES NO. 1 “dab” technique and sculpturing art employs the techniques of carving, modelling, casting, gluing and welding, nailing or wiring

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE Importance of Literature (in its positive sense) to the readers or the audiences A. It entertains an audience or a reader because it makes people enjoy, relax and getting pleasure through various literary devices such as; poetic devices, jokes, comedy and some interesting stories. B. It serves as guiding principles of life towards a reader or an audience. A good example is a poem called Saluting ujamaa by Kundi Faraja; it provides principles of ujamaa especially those of cooperation, fraternity, self – reliance, communal ownership of major means of production, equality etc C. Literature serves as an enormous information base for the reader and audience, for example, most of the novels, plays, poetry and films relate stories of human life, their activities and the places in which they live. Hence, they preserve a lot of information. Thus, literature has always served as an authentic source of information from all around the world. D. On the other hand, literature acts as socializing agent. For instance, a good book can bring the readers or audience together with their friends when they talk about their common experience of being read the same book or watching the same film or Television programs with a literary basis. E. It educates an audience or a reader towards positive aspect of life; hence, through literature people are able to obtain various knowledge, information and skills relating to various aspects of life. How literature educates the audiences or the readers?

i.

It develops or improves language skills to an audience or a reader, for example, through reading, listening or watching different kinds of literary works, besides an acquisition of vast number of vocabularies, the readers or audience are be able to acquire language skills such as; speaking, writing, listening and reading and becoming competent in a particular language.

ii.

It promotes / encourages changes towards a reader or an audience in various aspects of life such as; political, social, economic and cultural life in terms of reformation, revolution and the like.

iii.

It motivates / influences a reader or an audience in achieving positive goals of society in general or individual basis.

iv.

It helps a reader or an audience to understand different facets of life; therefore, it leads them to see the world (or their life) in different ways. For example, through passing different literary works (stories) the reader or the audience can understand different people, places, knowledge, cultures, point of views and general perspectives of life.

v.

It makes a reader or an audience to be a critical thinker in analysing and solving different issues of daily life. For example, through passing different literary works the readers or audience would change and develop their thinking pattern and become critical thinkers.

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LITERATURE vi.

SERIES NO. 1 encouraged those cultural practices and influenced the readers or audience; a good example is a novel called Unanswered Cries by Osman Conteh, the characters like Yaposeh and Makalay encourage the practice of genital mutilation by saying its importance such as; it reduces sexual appetite and it signifies that somebody is a real woman after undergo genital mutilation.

It promotes a particular culture identity to a reader or an audience. Through literature a particular cultural elements will be portrayed and transmitted to different readers or audiences.

Note: These are positive importance of literature to (non-readers or audiences) the composer and actors. F.

It provides employment or job opportunities to the people within their societies. For example, people may become employee or selfemployed as the authors, editors, singers, comedians, actors and analysts of literary works. G.

It enables people to obtain income through the selling of their literary works to different people within the societies.

However, there is a negative sense of literature towards readers or the audiences as follows;

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

It promotes boredom to an audience or a reader from the stories which against their perspectives of life. For example, the romantic novel or film can annoy a reader or an audience who are against romantic activities as a public issue. It misleads an audience or a reader from positive to negative aspects of life. For instance, by reading or watching literary work based on malpractices such as prostitution, banditry and other crime activities could affect the readers or the audiences in one way or another after they have perceived those practices as good ones. A good example is a novel called Unanswered Cries by Osman Conteh, the characters like Yaposeh and Makalay encourage the practice of genital mutilation by saying its importance such as; it reduces sexual appetite and it signifies that somebody is a real woman after undergo genital mutilation.

It destructs language competence to most of the audiences and the readers after have copied areas of language competence such as grammatical errors and wrong pronunciation of a particular language. For instance, most of the poet violet rule of grammar because they are allowed to do so through their poetic licences in their composition of poems, therefore, they have written poems with grammatical errors so as to suit the sound patterns in the poem. A good example is found in a poem namely Wishes of a hero by Isaac Mruma, in first line a poet write, “Were I a hammer”, to achieve musical effect (assonance) by inversing subject and verb, and also he uses “were” and “I” instead of “was” which make a perfect agreement with “I” (I were a hammer (not correct) I was a hammer (correct)).

It hinders changes to some angles of life, for example, in the aspects of culture, some of the cultural practices and traditions are based on rigidness and not meant to be changed, and hence, some of the literary works

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It promotes negative emotions such as anger, hatred, sadness and other negative feelings to an audience or a reader from the stories which arouse their emotion faculties during their reading or watching literary works. For example, in the play called This Time Tomorrow by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o the readers or audience may hate their government through reflection of the Kenyan government within a Play which has destroyed the market area while the low class people of Kenya depended on it for their small business and as their homes.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS 1. Literature has many importances towards the societies, social groups and individual. With reference from the two (2) readings you have read. Discuss the validity of this statement. 2. What are the effects of literary works to the society in generally as well as individual? Support your answer with regard of two (2) readings you have done. 3. With reference from two (2) you have read; discuss the function of literature in the societies. 4. The role played by literature within a particular society, group or individual is said to be positive. Justify the truth of this statement by using two (2) readings you have done.

Answer for question no. 1 Literature is a work of art which used words or language to convey the intended information to an audience or a reader. For instance, novel, poetry, drama, broadcast compositions such as films and television programs are also included in literature. Literature is very important to society, group or an individual; this can be shown from the points of discussion which validate its importance towards a society, a group or an individual. The following are the points which validate the importance of literary works from the play namely Three Suitors One Husband written by Oyono Mbia; Literature entertains society, group or individual who passing through a particular work of literature. For example, the trick of stealing dowry played by Juliette towards her father is very entertained the readers or audiences. She steals 300 francs from her father, 200 francs paid by Mbia and 100 francs paid by Ndi as her dowry and give to Oko, the person she loves so as to make her way of getting marriage with him, hence, to do so she steals 300 francs so as to make her father fail to pay back100 francs of Ndi after taking 200 francs from Mbia and also to fail to pay

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LITERATURE back 200 francs to plan to give 100 francs to Ndi and give her daughter to Mbia as well as remaining with the rest for his own. However, eventually Oko come with the stolen 300 francs and paid as a dowry for Juliette and her father used the same money to pay back to Mbia and Ndi without noticing and remains with no money. Together with that, it educates readers or audiences who get in touch with a particular literary work. For example, through scene that involves people of Mvouttessi and Sangatiti, the witch doctor who wants to uncover theft of 300 francs in Atangana’s house, a reader can realize that, superstition is not a good solution towards solving problem because Sangatiti fails to uncover the real thief, Juliette. Also, it helps society, group or individual in understanding different facets of life. For example, through different people of Mvouttessi and their different activities such as; farming which is practised by Atangana’s wife and Ndi; political issues which are practised by Mbia and Mbaga; and social issues which are portrayed much by Atangana who wants to force the marriage of her daughter, Juliette, a reader could understand different life facets found in any real society.

SERIES NO. 1 Literature promotes changes towards a reader or an audience. For example, through Wanjiro who go against her mother decision of wanting her not to get married with Asinjo because he is from another tribe, Wanjiro changes and make her own decision about her marriage and life in general. Hence, this promotes changes towards readers or audiences who undergo similar experiences. Generally, all points validate importance of literature in its positive side with regard of two plays. However, there is negative side of literature which also may a reader or an audience experience, for example, a reader or an audience may experience; boredom, destruction of language competence, hindrance of changes, misleading and promotion of negative emotions. In relevance to Tanzania, currently many adolescence shown negative side of literary work especially those found in broadcasting composition such as dramatic film. Some are misled and become destructive agent of their culture, especially in wearing and clothes issues. In my opinion, any literary work must be strictly observed and edited before it becomes to public access.

Literature makes someone to become critical thinker. For example, through reading different approach of solving daily problems done by the people of Mvouttessi, a reader or an audience could become a great critical thinker; through Juliette’s trick of stealing the money from her own father so as to save her love and her future husband, Mbia and returned the same money to the owner gives a reader or an audience to think on the issues or problems facing him or her critically. Apart from that, the following are the points which also validate the importance of literary works to society, group or individual from a play called This Time Tomorrow written by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o; Literature serves as enormous information base of different issues occurring within societies. For example, through people of Uhuru Market, a reader or an audience may find different information about Mau – Mau movement in Kenya, 1950s, and its aftermath; through Njango’s explanation about her husband participation in Mau – Mau movement in the forest, a reader or an audience could grasp enormous information about that important movement in history of Kenya. Development of language competence also can be achieved by a reader or an audience after passing through different stories in a literary work. For example, through story of the people of Uhuru Market a reader may acquire many new vocabularies such as Crescendo It act as a guide to different issues of life, for example, by reading the story of Uhuru Market people and their struggle against government campaign of cleaning the city which lead to the destruction of their homes and market place, a reader or an audience could be guided in their process of claiming their rights towards government or non – institutions. In a play people of Uhuru Market start with sending delegation and then followed by demonstrations and meeting on their way of protecting their homes to be destroyed by the government. However, treat them unfair and eventually demolish their homes.

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