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Relevant or Not? Literature, Literary Research and Literary Researchers in Troubled Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Rosemary Ross Johnston
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Extract

In a world post-September 11 2001, with seemingly endless escalations of war and violence in so many places, engaging one's time in literary research may appear futile and perhaps even self-indulgent. Scientific research has obvious and immediate outcomes that directly benefit the human condition (although it can of course have the reverse effect in certain fields - developments in weapon technology for example). Medical research helps to cure diseases. Social research facilitates planning for the future in all sorts of ways. Comparatively, it may certainly seem that literature and research in literature - exploring texts for what they say and how they say it, tangling with ideas of different takes or ‘comprehensive grasps’ (Merleau-Ponty, 1962: 408) on the world - have no such directly observable beneficial outcomes. On the surface at least, they indeed may appear removed from everyday needs. In reality, however, literature, literary research and literary researchers need to play an increasingly significant and creative role in a troubled world.

Type
Research Article
Information
Diogenes , Volume 50 , Issue 2: Languages and Literature in a Global Perspective , May 2003 , pp. 25 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2003

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