Discourse: Literature as the Bridge for the Unity of Humanity ~ Emman Usman Shehu
A significant role of literature is that it
enables us “make sense of our
experiences…(and at the same time allows us) assign meaning and value to
our lives.” 1 One way this has happened
is by giving man the ability to create a story-world.
That story-world has been with
mankind from the beginning of creation as an oral art before evolving into the
textual format. The story-world of course is that universe which is a
representation of the place where the human exists. It is not an Edenic place
because man no longer lives in that Garden of perfection that has been long
lost.
In the 17th Century,
the English Poet John Milton wrote an Epic Poem called Paradise Lost. Milton
based the ten-part poem “on the biblical story of
the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by
the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.” 2 Of course that
represents a certain worldview.
This is what literature also does, it
represents a worldview. But whatever the worldview that manifests, there is a
common denominator that the world is wracked by a plethora of divisions. Literature also seems to suggest that a way out
of this is some kind of regaining of that lost paradise, through the unity of
humanity. “Belief in the unity of mankind is a very ancient one. From earliest
times there have been those who have recognized that men’s nature, needs and
destiny are alike and demand common expression.” 3
Indeed our various religions, which themselves
are preserved in texts that are a literature of some sort, echo the belief in
the unity of humanity or mankind. This is a central teaching of the Baha’i
faith, “that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God
does not make any distinction between people regardless of race or colour. Thus, because all humans have been created
equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. Thus the Bahá'í
view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be
world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just
their nation. The teaching, however, does not equal unity with
uniformity, but instead the Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of unity
in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.”4
The faith structure of Islam includes the
belief of human unity. Thus it is emphatically stated “that there only One God
who created all. We are asked to believe in all of the Prophets and not to
prefer one Prophet above others in terms of respect. We are asked to believe in
the earlier scriptures despite God’s criticism of people for changing those
scriptures (Qur'an 2:285). A Muslim who does not believe in the whole set of
these principles is not considered a believer by God (Qur'an 4: 136).” 5
The belief in human unity is
also affirmed in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. This is strongly manifested in
the New Testament that, “whatever their differences, men are of one blood, one
stock, all of them children of the same father and intended for life in
community under the Lordship of Christ.”6
Creation
myths also show a great degree of human similarities and by extension the
possibility of human unity. Mythologists have applied various schemes
to classify creation myths found throughout human cultures. Religion professor Mircea Eliade and his
colleague Charles Long developed a classification based on some common motifs that reappear in stories the world
over. The classification identifies five basic types:
·
Creation ex nihilo in
which the creation is through the thought, word, dream or bodily secretions of
a divine being.
·
Earth diver creation
in which a diver, usually a bird or amphibian sent by a creator, plunges to the
seabed through a primordial ocean to bring up sand or mud
which develops into a terrestrial world.
·
Emergence myths in which
progenitors pass through a series of worlds and metamorphoses until reaching
the present world.
·
Creation by the
dismemberment of a primordial being.
·
Creation by the
splitting or ordering of a primordial unity such as the cracking of a cosmic egg or
a bringing order from chaos.
7
It is therefore no surprise that universalism has emerged as a theory spanning philosophy, economics, religion, law, and literature. Its application in literature, for instance, sometimes assists us to recognize the existence of global humanity. For instance, Shuixiang Peng in his article “Individualism and Universalism in Pound’s Poetics” notes: “Ezra Pound has long pursued individualism in his poetics, both in his translation and creation of poems. Yet he has also been interpreted as a Universalist. As an individual, Pound’s strategy is to attain an identity of the best poet through accomplishment that is personal, visible and measurable.
Universalism is realized by merging his
social responsibility and world humanities into his art conception of poems
based on the interaction of different cultural traditions aesthetically and
socially. The accommodation and confrontation between individualism and
universalism in the interpretation of his work reflects the consistency and the
conflict both within his thought and more significantly, within the vision of
world-humanity. Pound’s struggle for his pursuit of poetics reveals a picture
of a solemn and stirring attempt to balance the totalism of a poet and the
actualization of an ideal society.” 8
The big question though is can
literature enable the unity of humanity? Our world remains crisis torn at many
levels and as writers we reflect these situations in our story-world regardless
of the genre. Yet as writers, literature enables us to engage and reflect
through one of the most human attribute, language. Thus, according to Tabish Khair “by thinking imaginatively about issues
and problems and differences, (literature) enables us to find options and
solutions that might be closed to purely instrumental or logical thinking.
Moreover, literature has always been highly porous. Look at the way stories have traveled across cultures and, later, nations. Right from the beginning, from the ancient epics, from Panchatantra and Aesop’s Fables, downwards to our age, stories and literature in general do not respect political or social borders. In that sense too, they signify the fact that despite all our differences we inhabit one world.” 9
Moreover, literature has always been highly porous. Look at the way stories have traveled across cultures and, later, nations. Right from the beginning, from the ancient epics, from Panchatantra and Aesop’s Fables, downwards to our age, stories and literature in general do not respect political or social borders. In that sense too, they signify the fact that despite all our differences we inhabit one world.” 9
Until that day when we can find
the magical formula to regain our lost paradise, literature is the bridge
towards the unity of humanity. Shamini Flint – author of the Inspector Singh
series of detective novels, puts it this way: “Once in a while, when I receive a postcard about one of my
books from somewhere distant, I am convinced we are one people—all six billion
plus of us. Either way, stories bind us. To the extent we are different, they
are a bridge between worlds, a form of communication, of explanation, a plea
for understanding. Even more importantly, what we have in common is expressed
in the universal themes within stories … love, death, brotherhood (and
taxes?).” 10
NOTES
2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost
3.
Ernest
A. Payne, The Unity Of Mankind https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bq/25-1_002.pdf
5.
https://www.soundvision.com/article/the-lost-ideals-of-human-unity-in-islam
6.
Payne
8.
Shuixiang PENG Individualism and Universalism in Pound’s Poetics, http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/view/6964
9.
Tabish Khair in “How
Does Literature Unite The World”, http://goodbooksguide.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-does-literature-unite-world.html
10.
Shamini Flint in “How Does Literature Unite The World”, http://goodbooksguide.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-does-literature-unite-world.html
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Emman Usman Shehu is the editor of Cavalcade and Dugwe and Founder of Abuja Writers Forum.
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