What Is Literature? by David Damrosch

When I first read this article I had to keep coming back to it to finish. I must say I'm super glad I did finish it. I understand that literature is more than the books you read at school, literature is different forms of expressions. Literature can be written and expressed differently depending on the person writing the passage. My favorite form of literature are poems which I actually write myself. In this article it stood out to me very clear that in different cultures and countries words have to be translated for the passage to make sense to the person reading in their respective language. Being bilingual I relate to how important it is for my words in English to translate to Spanish when I'm speaking to someone.  Literature allows us to express things that are happening socially, personally, and global. Literature is an art. 

#fa23worldlit



Comments

  1. Professor AlvaradoSeptember 15, 2023 at 6:45 PM

    I can't imagine how challenging it can be to translate literature and/or poetry from one language to another. Interpretation is key. As Damrosch demonstrated with the two translation examples, the look and feel of a piece of writing can morph depending on who is doing the translating. The Popol Vuh is available in Spanish (in many different translations by different Spanish writers) and it would be interesting to read different translations (even different in languages).

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