Sarah Morra (11) | STAFF REPORTER
Diction is a vibrant tool used to illustrate scenes for readers, listeners, and conversationalists. However, paint fades, and new advances are made to improve what has become outdated. A question that has surfaced with the improvement of society is: should we disregard the carefully brushed work that is now antiquated?
Within classical literature, there is a significant difference in the usage of diction, at times encapsulating an undesirable reflection of society’s grim past. This includes lingering racist or sexist undertones and sentiments, which would be considered off-putting to modern-day readers. However, there may be residual benefits to the examination of these works despite the politically incorrect nature of what is written.
Classical literature is an integral part of our scope into the past. The differing views, perspectives, and narratives all detail an important part of our society’s past and present. Furthermore, it may serve as a commentary on the present day and how far society has come in terms of fluctuation of values, sentiments, laws, politics, and more. Dismissing these prominent works solely due to their contrasting values and ideals would be frivolous. This would slow down important improvements to one’s own society, as the ignorance of one’s past can be equated to the ignorance of one’s future.
The unconventional views in older literature may be uncouth and inappropriate today; however, it is unrealistic to impose modern-day views on the past. The imposition of modern-day views on past decisions of those who came before would be, to a certain extent, unfitting. Despite some values being strictly objective, the application of today’s modernity onto antiquated literature does not deny the relativity of time. As, through viewing these artifacts of literature – one is able to see how far society has come, and what may seem very obvious today may not have been clear many years ago.
Through the examination of classical literature, depending on the time period it is written, one can observe the political and historical atmosphere of the past. Reading antiquated literature provides insight into what that society’s perspective on certain issues was, and how it shaped one’s individual views. Literature may be utilized as a lens to view the past, as the political environment is typically woven into the very fabric of an author’s views.
Through the brandishing of this lens, readers can collectively rid today’s society of such antiquated perspectives despite the consumption of the literature that contains it. Much classical literature is studied at a secondary school level and may be understood to have various ideological differences from the present. However, not only is the moral of the story drawn, but also the evolution of our society as we know it. Authors who came before us demonstrate what they’ve learned through their lifetime solely through the text they write. Readers may consume this information and learn how one can develop further, just as those before us.
Overall, the consumption of classical literature proves to be invaluable to society through the continual evolution of society’s ideological views and the examination of the ever-changing political atmosphere.
