Literature: The role and function of Literature by Zhang Ming

   The role and function of literature, especially foreign literature    
   What is the role of literature? The answer to this question needs to first analyze the function of literature. In a certain sense, what kind of function literature can have, and which role the literature can be.
   Hu Yufang from the literature function about literature origin said that, the literature takes three kinds of function, they are cognitive function, aesthetic function and emotional function.
   The cognitive function: the object of literary description is real life. In the literary creation, the writer is always based on the real life, describing the social phenomenon and life widely and profoundly, and showing the rich and colorful people through the universe of 1,000,000,000 universes In the narrative language. People through the understanding of literature and understanding of the story, to be able to recognize the people and things around, can increase knowledge, broaden their horizons and get the revelation of life.
   The aesthetic function: The creation of literature can not be separated from the observation and understanding of beauty in life, so in the literary creation, Through the unique function of language and writing, people will inevitably reflect the beauty. When the reader is reading, he is able to experience the beauty of music and the story behind the story of the United States, in order to obtain a sense of pleasure.
   Emotional function: In a certain sense, emotional function and aesthetic function are closely related.Wang yuanxiang had written a thesis On the function of literature. In this paper, he summed up the two functions as entertainment function, that is, literature can bring the enjoyment of beauty, so that people have a sense of pleasure, then it has a certain entertainment value. In the view of many western scholars, the entertainment function, especially the aesthetic function, is the center of the literary function. Even there are many scholars think that Literature is a kind of pure beauty that transcends life and is completely free from moral restraint, and people's life, to pursue this pure beauty for the purpose, in order to get the greatest pleasure. The spiritual pleasure brought by the aesthetic feeling of literature has occupied a great part of human life. Therefore, life cannot do without this pleasure, the pleasure from the literature, then it means that life cannot do without literature, in other words, the function of literature is to give people a reason to live, the literature takes to give people a reason to live the role.
   In addition, there are many other functions of literature, the most important thing is the educational function. Whether it is the literature on social life, positive reflection, or social criticism, the ultimate goal is to give people enlightenment, so that people can get the correct values, in their own path in life will not deviate from the direction of future. Writings are for conveying truth is almost certain that literary works in China. But for the western literature, the aesthetic is far more important than the enlightenment, they do not recognize the emergence of literature in the cultural factors, but to maintain the purity of literature, to maintain this unique aesthetic function.

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