Humanism and Literature

PART ONE

I

Humanism seeks truth from the rational analysis of evidence. At the same time, it appreciates the creativity and insight of artists working in various media. Humanists readily acknowledge that exceptional writers can provide solace and inspiration. Furthermore, humanists prize the fact that literature offers awareness and preserves knowledge, as well as providing challenging diversion. While it is important not to be a mere “book swallower” (humanists believe in taking action), reading noteworthy writing can be both stimulating and satisfying.

It is suggested here that to qualify as literature writing must have five qualities:

1. It addresses important matters;
2. It demonstrates an elevated command of language;
3. It is thoughtful and often profound;
4. It displays imagination and vision;
5. It remains relevant today even if written long ago.

Thus, literature is a broad term for creations such as novels, plays, and poems that are considered art forms. Outstanding essays could also be included. Literature, writing specifically intended to be aesthetically pleasing and relevant inside and outside of its immediate context, serves in preserving our shared cultural heritage.

II

Works of literature are often meant to be read slowly. It may be essential to take the time to ponder the ideas as they are presented. It is not like a detective story where the reader may be eager to press on quickly in order to discover who committed the crime. For example, there is a joke about the person who took a speed reading course, then hurried through Lev Tolstoy’s epic novel, War and Peace, and afterwards said, “It was about Russia …, I think.”

Although there can be surprises and powerful effects upon first contact, rereading is often required in order to appreciate the artistry fully. The reader can experience both the pain and the pleasure of delving into a great mind.

Romances, spy novels, and adventure stories have their place and may be pleasant pastimes. Literature, however, is not easy. Reading with focus and intensity may not seem an appropriate way to spend time in today’s visually- and audibly-hyped world, but the effort is worthwhile due to the rewards it offers.

Watching sports on television can be enjoyable as elite athletes display amazing skills that most of us could never emulate; but the benefits of playing the games ourselves for their stimulation and physical exercise outweigh the temporary excitement of cheering for one’s favourite team or athletic hero. Similarly, extraordinary writing reaches into us as we leave aside passivity and come to grips with the psychological insights that can be obtained from observing the evil and admirable qualities of characters in a subtle or powerful narrative. This process can also enhance our empathy, a quality prized by humanists. Furthermore, humanists encourage having an active spirit that engages in questioning rather than being a passive recipient of mind numbing material.

III

It is certainly true that earlier writing must stand up to modern scrutiny if it is to be considered worthy of preservation. Changing circumstances need to be recognized and new perspectives welcomed. However, some recent critics would “deconstruct” all literature and reduce it to class consciousness, patriarchy, racial dominance, sexism, etc. While some or even all of those elements could be an aspect of a work, the creativity and linguistic skill may well rise above such criticism.

In judging literature, aesthetic considerations outweigh “social justice” criteria. Writing that is authoritative and original may, but need not, address political or economic issues. Those can and should be addressed appropriately in other forms. Moreover, judging writers by present ethical standards may not be appropriate. They must be considered in their context. Remembrance of historical injustice must not detract from intellectual standards and evaluation of artistic skill.

For example, to reduce William Shakespeare to merely a voice of the rising middle class of Elizabethan England or Jane Austen to an insensitive apologist for the declining gentry class of her time would be a mistake. It would mean missing out on the challenge and delight of contemplating the brilliance displayed by each.

IV

Can literary studies survive? Should they?

A humanist would maintain that such reading falls into the same category as enjoying a symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, admiring a carving by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, or exploring a painting by Katsushika Hokusai. There is nothing wrong in taking some time to appreciate profound vision, provided that the self-indulgence or idle leisure do not dominate one’s life.

It has been observed that contemplative study by what has long been referred to as “The Common Reader” can be rewarded with increased awareness, heightened sensibility, and a finer ethical perception. No humanist could disagree with those results.

Some critics have lamented that the aesthetic and imaginative qualities of literature are being ignored in favour of gender or racial cheerleading. They have rejected the right-wing view that literature should be defended for its supposed moral values and the left-wing view of those who attacked the famous writers in order to advance their program for social transformation.  There is a concern that all aesthetic and most intellectual standards are being abandoned in the name of social revolution and the remedying of historical wrongs. Particularly offensive in this area are theorists such as Michel Foucault.

Humanists would concede that literature can and should be reevaluated over time. However, to discard great writers of the past and replace them with modern mediocrity would be a travesty. Of course, new writers of quality should be celebrated. And voices that were not heard previously deserve their place. But when a forced ideology replaces creativity we are left with writing that is highly didactic such as the dogmatic biographies of Christian saints or the Socialist Realism of the Soviet Union. This is contrary to the spirit of humanism.

V

In the following sections of this essay, certain famous novels, plays, poems, and essays will be discussed. Some are more and some are less specifically humanist in content. In many of them, emotions and logic may seem to be in conflict. That is not always the case; nor is it a relinquishing of humanism. The heart can sometimes rule the mind, and that is at it should be. Never to fall in love, feel at one with Nature, or revel in artistic beauty would not be the goal of a humanist. Reason should always be a guide, but sometimes love transcends reason.

PART TWO

Here are some suggested samples for consideration. Any list will be highly subjective and may not match an individual’s taste or interest. Aside from some content in the anthologies, the samples given all predate the 20^th century in order to provide important historical background.

I

About six hundred years ago Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales. In this lengthy poem, more than two dozen stories are told by a fictional group of pilgrims on their way to the town of Canterbury, which was a popular site for demonstrating religious devotion. However, as was the case with Japanese pilgrims who enjoyed travelling to sacred Buddhist locations in their country, these English sojourners are seeking distraction as well as benediction. To amuse themselves on the journey they tell each other tales. It is a medieval road trip without GPS or cell phone data.

How can these travelers be of interest to us when their technology was so primitive compared to ours and ours a fantasy to them? It is because people have not changed that much, and Chaucer’s characters represent a widely divergent group including, among others, a bold knight, an often widowed wife, several religious types, a doctor, and a lawyer. It is a true cross-section of their world and would easily bear comparison with individuals of the 21^st century. Their respective recitations allow Chaucer to display his great story-telling ability.

Around 1400, King Henry IV was the first English monarch to speak English as his native language since the Norman Conquest of 1066 had made French the language of the upper classes. About the same time as Henry spoke, Chaucer wrote in the idiom of the time. While clearly recognizable as English, to us today it is at best a far removed dialect when not completely foreign speech. However, there are fine updates of the poems that allow us to appreciate Chaucer’s talent without having to become a linguistic scholar. Translation placed side by side with the original so that the reader can compare the two versions is recommended. The English language may have evolved in the six hundred years since Chaucer was alive, but his wit, power of observation, satirical skills, and insight into personality remain impressive.

William Shakespeare has long enjoyed a well deserved reputation as an extraordinary writer of comedy, drama and poetry. His sonnets are not to be missed. His mastery of English has had a long lasting impact on our speech today. However, since his plays are over four hundred years old, the language presented sometimes reads like a far removed dialect. Moreover, much of the dialogue of the plays is in poetic form. Thus, as is the case with ancient Greek playwrights, an edition with good notes is essential. Better yet for some readers would be the Sparks No Fear Shakespeare publications that have the original script on the left page and a modern rendering on the right page. In that way the reader can more quickly grasp the meaning of the Bard’s authentic verses.

It is also essential to keep in mind that the plays were never meant to be read but to be presented on stage. After carefully reading a play it is rewarding to view a production either live or over the internet.

Where to begin? Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies, and historical plays. For comedies, Measure for Measure is a good place to start. For histories, perhaps Julius Caesar is the most accessible.

For tragedies, there are several good choices. Hamlet deals with a young man trying to find his path in life as he deals with his father’s death. Othello explores the challenges of a person of colour in a predominantly white world. Macbeth portrays a husband and wife whose ambitions drive them to crime. In King Lear, an old man struggles with his children as he loses control over his life. Has young love and clan rivalry ever been better portrayed than by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet? All of these themes still bear consideration today.

II

The Enlightenment of the 17^th century in Europe brought about a mental shift from the unquestioned acceptance of tradition to a focus on the reasoned examination of evidence. Three cheers for humanism! By the late 18^th century, however, there was something of a reaction to the emphasis on rationality. Without dismissing the previous intellectual achievement, some poets cried out for more attention to be paid to intuition and imagination. Logic remained important, but individual emotion, especially with regard to Nature, was to be cherished. (This is “Romanticism”, not romance.) For humanists, it is important to emphasize that exploring one’s deep inner feelings does not preclude rational action to follow.

William Wordsworth was a revolutionary in poetry, inspired in part by the French Revolution, an event which began when he was nineteen years old. That revolution represented the ideas of the Enlightenment such as replacing accepted practices with reason. It was also motivated by a passion for improved social conditions for the lower classes. Wordsworth would be inspired by these themes and produce both short and long poems of great beauty and substance. For example, consider I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, My Heart Leaps Up, Tintern Abbey, and Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railroads,

Wordsworth did not reject the rationality of thought that had developed in the recent past but urged his readers to put their studies down long enough to walk outdoors and appreciate the beauties of the natural world. He praised the achievements of the scientists and engineers but also stressed the importance of the individual’s inner life and intuition. Drifting in and out of the Christianity of his time, he gravitated toward a form of pantheism, the worship of Nature.

A generation after Wordsworth another renowned poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in an essay entitled A Defence of Poetry, wrote that the exertions of the philosophers of the Enlightenment “in favour of oppressed and deluded humanity are entitled to the gratitude of mankind…But it exceeds all imagination to conceive what would have been the moral condition of the world” without the great writers and other artists.

Certainly poets can appreciate science and scientists can appreciate poetry. After all, the most remarkable scientists and philosophers were successful due to inspiration and their innate creativity as well as their application of rigorous thought.

John Keats composed superbly crafted poems that display an intense delight in losing his own identity in the object he contemplates. He perhaps rivals Shakespeare and Wordsworth in his apt phrasing.

While Keats was young, his father died falling from a horse and later his mother and younger brother died of tuberculosis. (This is a reminder of the mortality rate so common in the past before the advancement of medicine based on scientific research. Clean water, improved hygiene, and effective vaccines have significantly extended longevity.) Too poor to marry the woman he loved, Keats himself died of “consumption” at age twenty-two. What might he have accomplished had he lived longer?

Throughout his brief writing career Keats wrestled with the problems of evil and suffering in the world. Yet he refused to seek comfort in the absolutes of a religious creed which called “God” good. Like Wordsworth, Keats displays a tendency toward pantheism. These ideas are eloquently expressed in Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale, and Ode on Melancholy.

Keats’ more famous line, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”, shows how a poet can get carried away and lose touch with a less than perfect reality. Danger exists when ethics are subordinated to aesthetics. Nevertheless, there is something very moving about reading his poetry aloud while standing near his grave in Rome.

III

From about the year 1500 the pioneers of the Scientific Revolution upended previous ancient Greek and Christian conceptions of the universe. The Enlightenment philosophers of the 17^th and early 18^th centuries carried on this procedure and challenged the established ways of viewing the two most powerful institutions of Europe: the Church and the monarchy. Out of this intellectual ferment there emerged numerous novelists of note in the English-speaking world. Several of them will be considered below. Perhaps the modern reader will not readily relate to stories set in 19^th century England. However, while the technology and many attitudes have changed since then, the human condition remains much the same. Moreover, the excellent writing demonstrates a high level of aesthetic skills.

Jane Austen is famous for her novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. They are essentially comedies of manners based on love stories. The narratives focus on the lives of the leisure class, while offering gentle satire of its members. She displays little awareness of such matters as the abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807 or the increasing impact of the Industrial Revolution. Nevertheless, her development of characters, her penetration into their minds, and her mastery of language render her books fine literature. Moreover, she presents a female perspective in a male dominated society.

Perhaps her best novel is her last. Persuasion is a story of love lost but hope retained; romantic love in a world severely inhibited by social codes and class barriers. The main character’s inward sensitivity and her understanding heart show Austen’s acuteness of perception. It is a study of the powerful and sometimes positive role that emotion can play in life even for humanists who are committed to reason as their primary guide.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s parents were both philosophers. Her mother was the women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, and her husband was the poet Percy Bysse Shelley. Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. This novel may be considered an early example of science fiction. In it, Dr. Frankenstein tries to bring to life a figure composed of parts from various corpses. The novel, thus, asks how life is created, if not by God. Shelley anticipated many modern scientific and ethical questions. Controversies exist today about cryonics, cloning, and stem cell research that humanists need to address. Moreover, the novel offers an eerie foreshadowing of the challenges presented now by artificial intelligence that threatens to turn the tables on its creators. Significantly as well, the tale also explores the issue of how someone who is different may be seen as dangerous.

Charles Dickens created some of literature’s best-known fictional characters. Most readers are familiar with Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. A perennial classic of the season is A Christmas Carol. This is a semi-secular novella about the transformation of a miser into a more generous individual without reference to the supposed birth of the “Son of God”.

Some critics would argue that Dickens’ greatest novel is Bleak House. It shows his inventiveness at its best. The main character, Esther, illustrates the sorrow of not having parents; but her intelligence and self-deprecation make her truly intriguing. Her evolution over time represents Dickens’ ability to demonstrate the transformation of a personality. Like all of Dickens’ books, Bleak House is a novel of social criticism. In this case he satirizes the legal profession, especially as it applies to dealing with wills and trusts. It is at once perhaps both a fairy tale and a chronicle of powerful realism.

Charlotte Brontë is best known for her novel Jane Eyre. Her sister Emily Brontë is equally famous for her book Wuthering Heights.

Jane Eyre is a coming of age narrative that follows the experiences of its heroine, who confronts her challenges with quiet courage and common sense. We witness her gradual maturation and share her intimate thoughts. The novel offered a new approach to prose fiction by telling the story exclusively from the perspective of its principal character. Jane’s independence allows Charlotte Brontë to address issues related to religion, class hierarchy, and women’s place in society.

Wuthering Heights remains controversial because it depicts cruelty in many forms. Like her sister, Emily Brontë challenged the morality of her era and criticized religious hypocrisy and the snobbery of the class system.

Both sisters wrote elegant prose in a highly romantic fashion where the characters’ passion often overruled reason. That is not unrealistic. Jane Eyre tells of successful social rise due to moral rectitude, whereas Wuthering Heights is a dramatic tale of revenge. The one is an inspiration; the other is a warning.

As well as being an accomplished translator, Mary Ann Evans (aka as George Eliot), wrote novels that are known for their realism, psychological insight, and detailed depiction of place and time. She was a humane free-thinker.

Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is set in a fictional English town. It is a very sophisticated novel that moves constantly from one intriguing character to another while exploring their ideas and attitudes without caricature. She blends several powerful yet nuanced love stories, yet avoids triviality. At the same time, Eliot made very astute observations on various topics such the status of women, the role of marriage, and religious hypocrisy.  Political change was also a key element as the Reform Act of 1832 promised to transform English society by expanding voting rights. Interspersed with comic episodes, Middlemarchdoes notneglect other serious matters including the expansion ofrailways, developments in medicine, and the resistance of groups facing unwelcome change.

Eliot is skilled in demonstrating the difference between “rationalism”, as when a doctor uses new evidence to diagnose disease, and “rationalization”, when a former preacher justifies his own dubious behaviour as morally acceptable if it is to his personal benefit.

Eliot believed that imaginative fiction could paint a picture of human life and help to develop empathy, a truly humanistic trait. Both an optimist and a realist, she believed that the world could be at least somewhat improved through individual and group action.

Much of her fiction displays her notable sense of agnosticism. She understood the “divine” as the best qualities of humanity projected onto a mythical figure. While not religious herself, she appreciated religious tradition as a technique to maintain a sense of social order and morality in a less cynical manner that of Julius Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte. She read and was impressed by Charles Darwin. She is quoted as saying that “God” was inconceivable, immortality was unbelievable, but duty was absolute.

Thomas Hardy was a realist in the tradition of George Eliot. He was highly critical of much in the England of his time, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain. Hardy examined the beliefs, especially those relating to marriage, education and religion that limited people’s lives and caused unhappiness. In his novels, including Far From the Madding Crowd, Hardy dealt with various themes including betrayal and rectitude. The seemingly tranquil countryside of rural England disguised some unpleasant truths.

Throughout his life, Hardy sought reasons to believe in the possibility of some form of life after death, but was unable to do so. He could not accept that an omnipotent divinity could allow the horrors in life that anyone can observe. In private letters he encouraged his correspondents to read Charles Darwin or various agnostics.

IV

So far only British authors have been mentioned. Of course, there are many other writes in English who are worthy of attention. Four Americans follow.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very influential essay writer who promoted the independent American spirit. He did not accept the notion of an all knowing “God”, but was instead a “transcendentalist”, i.e. he believed that each human had a soul that could connect to a supreme world soul. The influence of Hindu philosophy is evident here. For example, his masterful essays Nature, Self-Reliance, and The Over-Soul reflect his focus on non-conformity. He stressed that the individual must use critical thinking to seek the truth. At his best, Emerson prompted rationality over doctrine. Taken to extremes, however, his approach could lead to mere egotism.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a poet and translator. He set out to create lyrical narratives that would reflect and further develop a growing sense of nationalism in the United States. He is most famous for Paul Revere’s Ride, The Village Blacksmith, Evangeline,and The Song of Hiawatha. Revered when alive, Longfellow was denigrated later. Critics described his poetry as uninspired and common. However, his simple style appealed to the general audience and continues to do so. For those who are drawn to poetry that is easier to understand, his verses retain a notable appeal. They can be a good introduction to poetry for the uninitiated and lead to taking on more substantial literature.

Walter Whitman Jr. was a writer of greater depth than Longfellow, and is thought of as one the most important American poets of all time.  His writing is both Romantic and realistic, as well as sensual. Whitman was a religious skeptic and leaned toward pantheism, with the divine to be found in Nature. He was influenced by the essays of Emerson and the transcendentalist movement and with a belief in an immortal soul.

His poems often had themes of suffering and the imminence of death. Having done hospital work during the American Civil War, he had seen soldiers who recovered from their wounds, but also those who did not.  Deeply disturbed by the assassination of beloved president Abraham Lincoln, he wrote two moving poems, O Captain! My Captain! and When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.

Emily Dickinson published few poems during her life. But many were discovered after her passing. Her love of gardening was reflected in her use of flowers as symbols, but she was no mere nature poet. Fond of irony and humour, her poems cover a wide range of topics with a witty use of language. She was also quite preoccupied with death, perhaps due to her turning away as a teenager from her very strict religious upbringing. She tried to find a way to have religious faith while also recognizing the insights of scientists such as Charles Darwin. Like many others of her time, she appreciated Jesus’ morality without accepting his divinity.

Her intelligence and virtuosity can be approached by sampling a few of her untitled poems that are known by their first lines.

• A narrow fellow in the grass…
• “Go tell it”—What a Message
• I taste a liquor never brewed
• Because I could not stop for Death
• “Heavenly Father”—take to thee

PART THREE

Many parts of the world have produced great literature. Discussed here are outstanding works translated into English.  This is a very limited sample.

I

The Greeks of ancient Athens gave us the first stage plays that we would recognize today as theatrical productions. Although they are some 2,500 years old, they can still resonate with audiences because they address questions of the human condition that, despite their unfamiliar cultural context, remain intensely recognizable today. These dramas raise challenging ethical questions and generate emotional involvement.

A good place to start is the powerful Oedipus the King by Sophocles. It is a type of murder mystery set in the midst of an epidemic. It has characters that arouse both scorn and pity while asking how much individuals can resist their fate. Modern translations with good notes are available.

II

Skipping over centuries of time and numerous worthy authors including Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides, Virgil, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, let us jump now to the European Renaissance and consider three writers who are of particular interest to humanists.

Michel de Montaigne, a French philosopher born a generation before Shakespeare, wrote a series of nearly one hundred essays that were published between 1580 and 1595. The word “Essai”, as he used it in French at the time, meant an attempt or tryout.

Montaigne explored his own “self”, anticipating modern psychology by several centuries, and was able to perform his charming inward meditation without straying into mere egotism. His insights can surprise even a casual reader; a dedicated reader can be long sustained by his wit and self-deprecation.

Inspired by Socrates and the Delphic injunction to “Know thyself”, this French nobleman revealed his engaging personality in a perceptive estimate of the strengths and limitations of his own mind. His essays inspired a new form of writing and also influenced the writing of novels, especially those that explored psychological and social themes.

Montaigne expresses a sense of the fleeting nature of human life from his own experience and from reading On the Nature of Things by the Epicurean philosopher Lucretius, a poet who remains influential on humanists today. Montaigne includes extensive quotations from Classical authors, whom he both admires and criticizes. He ponders the classic humanist themes of moral judgement, courtesy, education and virtue.He is, however, no slave to the past.

He also argued that Europeans could learn from peoples in the recently discovered “New World”, some of whom he spoke with personally through an interpreter.

A nominal Roman Catholic, Montaigne condemned religious bigotry and the burning of witches and blasphemers. He asked how many things which yesterday were unquestioned beliefs later became seen as mere inventions. Like numerous other religious skeptics, he noted that perhaps “God” may have made the world as he chose, but many deplorable people lived serenely and died tranquilly. For Montaigne, this put an end to the notion of a benevolent supreme deity.

Moving gently towards modern humanism, Montaigne’s motto was “What do I know?”  A central concern of his was to learn how to reach rational conclusions. He sought to exclude superstition and unquestioned tradition. He had a mind of striking clarity.

As a Member of Parliament and mayor of Bordeaux he had a practical understanding of administration, politics and power. A man of his times, he is not to be judged by today’s standards but appreciated for his pioneering efforts. For Montaigne it was reason first, but not without passion: “even virtue needs to catch fire”. The greatest goal is to appreciate the natural world, love the life we have, and learn how to live this life beautifully.

Miguel de Cervantes was a member of the lowest level of Spanish nobility, and he had to work for a living as a clerk and tax collector. He was also a marine who lost the use of one arm during a battle and was later captured and enslaved in the Turkish Empire for five years.

His greatest success as an author came with The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha in 1605, when Shakespeare was also writing hits in England. Perhaps the first modern novel, Don Quixote parodied the then popular stories of chivalry, a style of life that was already old fashioned. Cervantes used colloquial but well chosen language and portrayed real life in the Spain of his day. He managed to blend gentle comedy with social satire.

The knightly Don Quixote character is balanced by his “squire”, the peasant Sancho Panza. The dialogue between the two is humorous but revealing. Don Quixote is able to expand Sancho’s vision, while Sancho helps return the apparently insane Don Quixote to reality. The development of their friendship, despite their gap in social standing, is a moving part of the tale.

Don Quixote’s ridiculous adventures have given us the word “quixotic”, meaning the quest for ideals in an impractical manner. It is a reminder to humanists that our passionate pursuit of noble goals must be conducted with both dedication and careful planning or we will not be freethinkers but merely wishful thinkers.

A century after Shakespeare, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name of Molière, was an actor and playwright at the court of King Louis XIV of France, the most powerful nation in Europe at the time. His comedies were witty satires with sparkling dialogue in either prose or verse. While essentially creating comedies of manners intended for light entertainment, Moliere was a genius in portraying characters whose weaknesses and faults remain a warning to us still. He wrote a century after Montaigne but the essayist’s influence is evident in Moliere’s penetrating but gentle insight into human behaviour.

Tartuffe (1664) is a satire on religious hypocrisy but not an open attack on religion.

Tartuffe, the principal character, is a career swindler who passes himself off as a holy man. Monsieur Organ, duped by an apparent saint, is sincere in his religious beliefs but uses them to justify his attempt to control everyone. He constantly proclaims his piety. His wife, Madame Pernelle, is obstinately narrow-minded.

The Misanthrope (1666) may appear to be just a superficial farce (improbable romantic comedy) but, in fact, it contains a penetrating awareness of the flaws of French aristocratic society.

In this play, some of society’s serious failings are presented. The criticisms made by the main character, Alceste, are valid. Deceit and intrigue are evident. Social norms produce routine dishonesty. Justice is undermined by those with power.  Alceste, who dislikes and distrusts everyone, is a heedless fraud who expands the trivial faults of others in order to justify his own self-righteousness.

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670) (translated as The Bourgeois Gentleman), satirizes attempts at social climbing while gently mocking the pretentious middle-class and the snobbish aristocracy. The title itself is a joke.  At that time a “gentleman” was by definition a born aristocrat. Therefore, there could be no such thing as a “bourgeois gentleman”.

Moliere’s era witnessed a noticeable rise of the middle class. Newly rich merchants were entering into the king’s service, and their affectations gave the playwright much material for comedy. But Moliere was a gentle and fair critic. The principal character, M. Jourdain, is no worse an individual than the play’s swindling nobleman, Dorante. Indeed, by contrast to the nobleman’s greed for money, Jourdain’s craving for education and social approval is at times merely touching. Happily, overall, Moliere encourages his audience to examine themselves and not behave as badly as some of his characters.

Humanists, beware. In The Bourgeois Gentleman there is an effective satire of philosophers that should make us wary of becoming pedantic during the discussions that we champion.

III

Several novelists of 19^th century France scrutinized the behaviours of their fellow citizens.

In The Red and the Black (Le Rouge et le Noir) Stendhal captured the challenge of an ambitious young man torn between honesty and passion as he strives to move up the social ladder.

In Old Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot) Honoré deBalzac created complicated characters including a naïve law student, an elderly father, and a criminal in hiding.

In Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (Madame Bovary: Mœurs de province) Gustave Flaubert captured the frustrations of a young woman who seeks to escape the boredom of life in the countryside. The ending is tragic and cynical.Flaubert was tried for obscenity but acquitted.

These three French authors displayed superb literary style and excelled at narration that combined realism and romanticism. Their portraits are psychologically convincing as they capture the conflict between rationality and passion. Russian writer Lev Tolstoy built on their success with Anna Karenina. Modern readers may or may not relate to the plots that are based in considerable part on marital dissatisfaction.

Victor-Marie Hugo was not just a novelist, playwright, and poet of distinction; he was also an active politician who campaigned for various social causes such as the abolition of slavery and capital punishment. He advocated freedom of the press, universal suffrage, and free education for children. In his most famous works, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, masterpieces of written language, Hugo displayed a commitment to free thinking and a deep understanding of the human condition while appreciating the morality of certain Christians.

IV

LITERATURE IN EAST ASIA

East Asian culture is often unfamiliar to readers of English. That is unfortunate because there are several rich traditions, two of which are indicated here. China and Japan in particular are worth investigating. Not to know China and Japan is not to know both the distant past and the ever changing present. While both cultures were heavily influenced by the Buddhist religion of India, they each retained their own unique qualities including a sometimes quite secular emphasis.

Chinese literature, whether poetry, drama, or fiction, is deeply humanistic and remarkable for its lack of cynicism. It has been praised as an affirmation of life, with all its glory and squalor. It portrays the magnificent and indifferent universe in which we find ourselves. Humanity’s own nature, with all its potentials for spiritual enlightenment and despicable depravity is addressed. Our moral fate and immortal aspirations are subtly explored. As a demonstration of the artistic capabilities of language, Chinese literature is one of the great achievements of the human mind. Japanese creations echo this tradition and add their own insights.

Chinese and Japanese are completely different languages from each other. Chinese is monosyllabic and tonal. Japanese has a polysyllabic and pitch form. Both are also completely different from English or other European tongues.

Translating history or literature into English requires great knowledge and skill. To further complicate matters, there are two methods of transliterating Chinese into Roman script. The older one is still used in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the newer one (pinyin) is used in the Peoples Republic of China. Japanese also has more than one transliteration system.

 In addition, writers in Chinese and Japanese both refer to cultural traditions (Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, etc.) that may be unfamiliar to Westerners, just as East Asian readers may not understand Greek, Roman, or Christian references in the works of European writers. Good translations with appropriate explanatory notes are required to assist in comprehension and enjoyment.

There are many challenges in any efforts to read early Chinese novels. Often the multitude of characters can make it difficult to follow the story line. A society with such Confucian social rigidity, Buddhist otherworldliness, and Daoist (Taoist) superstitions can frequently be off-putting for a humanist. It becomes clear why the Nationalists and Communists both strode to recast their country in more modern form.

Five epic narratives from China provide an in-depth look into the culture of the Central Country.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lo Guanzhong depicts military stratagems and political intrigues. It is also an attempt to expound a view of history as the interplay between fate (“the will of heaven”) and human endeavours.

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en is a religious allegory that narrates a quest from China to India in search of enlightenment. On the way, there is biting social satire and off-beat humour. It is somewhat similar to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Cervantes’ Don Quixote.

Water Margin by Shi Nai’an is a tale of heroic adventure derived from early oral traditions that recount the stories of a band of chivalrous outlaws roughly equivalent to Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. It was looked down upon by educated Chinese who, nevertheless, sometimes read it in secret.

The lengthy and detailed novel Golden Vase Plum by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng deals with the domestic life of the middle class more than supernatural events or heroic deeds. It was quite sexually explicit for its time, though perhaps tame by today’s standards.

Described as incomparable for its psychological insights in its realistic descriptions of social manners and daily life, Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin  does not have much action but a great deal of human interaction.

Chinese literature is also rich in other forms besides novels. Here are three anthologies that provide an excellent introduction

ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE LITERATURE:

FROM EARLY TIMES TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY

Cyril Birch (1965)

This extensive collection includes poetry, essays, plays, and fiction. There are notes that are very helpful for those unfamiliar with Chinese culture.

Among many other topics, there are discussions of death where Buddhist heavens are replaced by the reality of non-existence before and after our brief lives.

Selections from Si-ma Qian demonstrate that well written biographies can also be considered as literature. They can be read for the pleasure of the narration.

ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE LITERATURE:

FROM THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY

Cyril Birch (1972)

This is an excellent follow up to Volume 1.

ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE LITERATURE: BEGINNINGS TO 1911

Stephen Owen (1996)

This is another broad collection. It includes some history and philosophy of fine literary quality that did not appear in Birch’s earlier compilations. The introduction and explanatory notes provide insightful guidance into Chinese thinking and style. This is a deep dive into Chinese achievements in many forms of writing.

Japan was deeply influenced by China, just as Europe was by Greece and Rome. Yet Japan preserved its own unique culture. Here are two fine anthologies that introduce topics often unfamiliar or misunderstood by Western readers.

ANTHOLOGY OF JAPANESE LITERATURE FROM THE EARLIEST ERA TO THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY

Donald Keene (1955)

The sweep of Japanese literature in all its great variety is made available to Western readers in this collection. Every genre and style, from the celebrated Noh plays to the poetry and novels of the seventeenth century, find a place in this book. An introduction by renowned scholar Donald Keene places the selections in their proper historical context, allowing the readers to enjoy the book both as literature and as a guide to the cultural history of Japan.

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE LITERATURE: AN ANTHOLOGY

BEGINNINGS TO 1600

Haruo Shirane (2007)

This is a very substantial collection that includes a wide variety of topics with academic notes. In some examples, the original Japanese poetry written in roomaji (Roman letters) appears opposite the English translation. This may enhance the reader’s experience, especially if there is some prior knowledge of the language. The scholarly introduction and explanations throughout are very clear and helpful.

Large excerpts from certain works are perhaps worthy of the most attention because together they present two of the major elements of Japanese culture.

In the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, female author Murasaki Shikibu (c. 1000 CE)  describes elegantly life at the imperial court in Heian-kyou (modern Kyoto). This is aristocratic living in a manner that easily rivals that of the Versailles palace of French monarchs from Louis XIV through Louis XVI. It is a world of fine taste, emotional responsiveness, and indifference to the lower classes. It might be broadly summarized as “poetry, perfume, and promiscuity”.   Sensitivity to nature and awareness of the evanescence of beauty (sometimes summarized as wabi-sabi) would remain hallmarks of Japanese aesthetics for centuries.

In strong contrast, The Tale of the Heike, an anonymous epic about civil war at the end of the 12^th century CE, displays the spirit of the Japanese warriors (bushi or samurai). Their courage, determination, and fanatical willingness to sacrifice became core values throughout the nation. Always tinged with a fatalism characteristic of Buddhism and revolving around loyalty fostered by Confucianism, the recounting of strategies and battles makes for a rousing read.