Abstract aesthetic standards - Essay Example

AESTHETIC STANDARDS Overview of the ment There is an old saying that goes that, do not judge a book by its cover. It could perhaps be on the basis of this good old saying that George Orwell made his statement that “abstract aesthetic standards are all bunkum and… a book is only a “good” book if it preaches the right sermon” (Hooks, 2001). Clearly abstract aesthetic standards tend to take a more philosophical position on the value of a piece of written literature rather than paying much attention to the core message of the written literature, which is often hidden in the writings rather than the general perception of the work. In my understanding, it is out of this conception that Orwell made his statement. The statement gives an understanding that it is always the best thing to do if readers would pay much attention to what is written in a piece of literature to come out with their generalized opinion on the value of the work rather than drawing generalized conclusions based on the type of literature the work is. For example for the mere fact that two poems were both written in the 1930s does not mean they would both have the same aesthetic value (Brownmiller, 2005). In the estimation of George Orwell, such generalizations would be considered as being more abstract that visual and this takes an element of empirical judgment out of the whole discussion. In the following paragraphs, a detailed analysis is done on the statement by George Orwell by using two literature works, which were all written in the 1930s. The focus would however be on the value of the literature works rather than on Orwell as a statement maker. Writer’s Stand on the Statement After a critical review of two literature works namely Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon and Robin Skelton’s Collection Poetry of the Thirties, the writer holds a very strong convection that he agrees partially with the statement by George Orwell that “abstract aesthetic standards are all bunkum and… a book is only a “good” book if it preaches the right sermon.” Before delving into the detailed analysis of the two literature works, a much generalized position can be taken as to why I agree partially and not fully with the statement. Generally, it can be seen that Orwell would want much attention to be placed on the theme that the literature work carries in judging whether or not the book is a good one (Experiment-Resources, 2008). However, the theme or message alone cannot make a book aesthetically brilliant (Jackson, 2005). Even though the message, which Orwell refers to as sermon would be very important in the grading, of a book, it is also important to pay attention to other elements of the book and how the writer uses them. Examples of these elements include techniques, setting and characters. This is because all writers approach the titles of their written literature works; be they poems or novels with a sense of having the need to put a message across to readers. Most of these times, the intended message that the writers put across are sent to the reader through the use of a number of techniques and themes. The two elements namely techniques and themes ought to be meshed together in a very holistic fashion to gain the writer an accolade of having put together a good work. Again, readers would want to see a perfect relationship between characters and the setting and link this to the message or sermon to judge how aesthetically brilliant a piece of literature work is. Detailed elaboration of this stand taken is made by using the works of Lewis Grassic Gibbon and Robin Skelton. Critical Literature Review Sunset Song and to the Poetry of the Thirties Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon In writing the novel Sunset song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon clearly defended the aesthetic values of work in relation to how Orwell would want a book to be judged as being good by using two major elements of aesthetic standards. These are theme and characters. Theme The major themes of Sunset Song touches on what most reviewers have described as the Peasant Crisis and the Scottish national identity (Gravett, 2003). With these two themes, a ‘sermon’ as would be said in the context of Orwell was well preached to depict the value of the book and how good the book is. For example, writing on the title of sunset song, the writer showed that it was not enough to get a total understanding of the title of the book without taking time to digest the theme of the book. This way, Orwell’s statement that abstract aesthetic standards are all bunkum become justified in the sense that it has to take the reader more than assuming an abstract understanding for the book. Writing on the theme of Peasant crisis, Gibbon brings to the apprehension of the reader, the kind of hardship and torture that the ordinary peasant in the 1930s of Scotland had to go through to survive life. This is further linked with the fact that the hardship was not a national issue but then a phenomenon that for some reasons were limited to peasant farmers alone. Through this first theme, the second theme brings itself to bear on the nationality of the Scottish people. This theme was so insightful that the reader did not have to live in the 1930s to appreciate the kind of lifestyle that the Scottish of the days held on as their national identity. One of such was the gratification for the class system whereby people were clearly distinguished by their social status. In the extract below, we read of the differentiation that existed between a learned Scottish and one who was not: “Folk said he had once been a scholar and written books and learned and learned till his brain fair softened and right off his head he'd gone and into the poorhouse asylum.” ? Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song But one would ask of the sermon that the writer was trying to preach with these two themes in relation to the title of the book. Indeed, the writer preaches that there was a sun setting on the old ways and giving room to modernity as the old ways gradually got faded along the story (Howard, 2006). Characters Not only did Gibbon elaborate on the fact that the sun had set on the old ways of the Scottish identity by using the themes of the novel. Generally, experts classify and rate the use of characterisation as one of the most outstanding ways in which Gibbon could preach his sermon in the Sunset Song (Mondschein, 2011). For example the characters of Chris Guthrie, Chris’s mother, Chris’s father, and Ewan Tavendale as a perfect blend of people who could tell the 1930 story of Scotland in the manner in which is needed to be told. The family of Chris Guthrie is one that is of the lower class because of poverty. The gratification for people with class resulted in the fact that the family was totally neglected and abandoned by the society. Such relegation faced by the family, in which the mother was a nurse to twin children became the result of the mother’s suicide. Clearly, but for the disparity that existed in the days, the family could have had some level of dependence on other people until they could take care of their own needs. As Chris Guthrie grew up, another level of class is depicted as she receives education and becomes enlightened. So the writer writes in the following extract to give an indication that Chris was indeed made of two personalities saying: “So that was Chris and her reading and schooling, two Chrisses there were that fought for her heart and tormented her. You hated the land and the coarse speak of the folk and learning was brave and fine one day; and the next you'd waken with the peewits crying across the hills, deep and deep, crying in the heart of you and the smell of the earth in your face, almost you'd cry for that, the beauty of it and the sweetness of the Scottish land and skies.” ? Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song The author gives an indication that for the sunset to set on the old system in which there was so much love for the rich and condemnation for the poor, education, rather than family history was to be the key to achieving this. Therefore regardless of the fact that Chris was from such a poor family, she had her chains of disparity broken when she received education, got married to Ewan who was also enlightened and then later to established a new relationship with the new minister (Myers and Hansen, 2006). Poetry of the Thirties by Robin Skeleton The days of the thirties, from which Robin Skeleton gathers different works of poetry have been described as a period when individualistic lyrics were being paraded by most poets (Rotten Tomatoes, 2001). This is because that era marked a moment in literature when most poets and other writers had a lot of issues to talk about concerning the society of those days but they never had any open avenue to do that expect to use their literature works. In relation to Orwell’s statement on a good book, it can be said that the need for the writers to address specific issues of society made it possible for them to use their poems to preach sermons (messages) that gave a very high aesthetic impressions about their works. Two of such works that feature in Skeleton’s work are Audenesque for an initiation by Ewart Gavin and Just a Smack at Auden by William Empson Audenesque for an initiation Published in 1933 by Ewart Gavin, the writer uses the element of setting to drum home a sermon of an impending political revolution, which in his opinion was going to take place against the people of the upper class. The setting used was a typical playing field where the poet sounded home a word of caution to his opponents on the game claiming “before next month we'll storm the clubhouse” (Auden, 1930). Essentially, the writer succeeded in using the element of poetic setting of a game field to denote how the socio-political system in England at the time was not going to exist forever as in all games where the winner is not always the same person. Clearly, England as a country was in need a massive socio-political revolution that would see a launch into an era of patriotism and respect for fundamental human rights instead of adoration for social classifications. To this end, and fitting the setting of the poem rightly into the English setting of the 1930s, it would be said that the writer was aesthetically on track when he could use his setting to carry a good sermon for his people to be more patriotic than communists. Contrary to standards of Orwell therefore, this was yet another good book that was not centred on its theme but also on its setting. Just a Smack at Auden William Empson wrote Just a Smack at Auden in 1938. According to the standards of Orwell, it would be said that the sermon that was being preached by the writer was a sermon on Political indecision. However, even though the writer make great effort to use the message of the poem to drum home this sermon, he also did well in using a lot of literary techniques, mainly the use of refrain to make the reader have an excellent understanding of the theme of the poem. The writer addresses his listeners as boys and ridicules the practice of political indecision that existed among the political leadership of his days. Clearly, he calls the listeners boys to clarify the subject of indecision, which is more among young boys than older men. So in trumpeting that there was indecision, he writes, “shall I pluck a flower, boys, / shall I save or spend?” [29] In conclusion, it this evidence that Orwell cannot be wholly agreed with in saying that how good a book is should only judged by the sermon (message). There can well be other elements like the use of techniques like imagery as used by Empson. REFERENCE LIST Brownmiller S., 2005, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, McMillan Press: New York Experiment-Resources.com Milgram Experiment - Obedience to Authority. 2008. [Online] http://www.experiment-resources.com/stanley-milgram-experiment.html [23 September 2012] Gravett, C. 2003. Towton 1461: England's Bloodiest Battle. Osprey Publishing: London Hooks, B,. 2001. Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism, South End Press: Oxford Howard, B. 2006. A needle in the right hand of God. Random House: New York. Jackson, S. 2005. The Lottery. Thomson Gale Publication: New York. Mondschein, K. 2011. Sunset Song. Paul Getty Museum: New York Myers, A and Hansen, C. 2006. Experimental Psychology, 6th ed., Thomson/Wadsworth: Belmont, CA: ISBN-13: 978-0-534-63441-4 Rotten Tomatoes. Poetry of the Thirties. 2001. [Online] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knights_tale/ [September 11, 2012] Read More