Q: “But literature has been, and will continue to be, as long as it exists, one of the common denominators of human experience through which human beings may recognize themselves and converse with each other, no matter how different their professions, their life plans, their geographical and cultural locations, their personal circumstances” (Llosa 2).
C: Literature is what brings people who are unfamiliar to each other, together. There is no judgement from literature, much like there is no race, class, and gender. It is able to transport us into a world where the realities of issues such as racism do not exist. It is a catalyst of what creates society as a whole and can bring mutual understanding. It then is humans themselves that create the divide and subsidizing of society. There is no other form of learning that has such broad range and provide immense knowledge.
Q: Is literature at all able to divide people apart, separate and point out the “differences” between individuals; or is it truly divine in a way that sees through rose colored glasses?
Q: “fiction does not exist to investigate only a single ‘precinct of experience. It exists to enrich through the imagination the entirety of human life, which cannot be dismembered, disarticulated, or reduced to a series of schemas or formulas without disappearing” (Llosa 3).
C: I want to challenge this statement that Llosa makes. Take something like poetry, wouldn’t that necessarily have a formula to it; and therefore could be considered a science? I believe that literature itself is scientific. There is no needed formula, because it is able to explain the foundations of life through language. The breakdown of language can be considered a science, make up of consonants, vowels, and syllables to make words. There is no limitations to what can be considered science if there are things such as theoretical science that exists. The mathematical side of science does not constitute itself as scientific; if it can explain the world and the way humans behave it can be considered science.
Q: What is the criteria for something to be considered scientific, and furthermore, why can literature not be considered?
