Understanding Literature (specifically fiction) requires literary logic. Literature communicates to us by experience- we experience the pain, the pleasure, the joy, and the sorrow of the protagonist. Discovering what makes literature great allows us to better appreciate it when we find it! Fortunately, Jeff Baldwin has outlined in The Twelve Trademarks of Great Literature what is required for excellence in lit.
- The dogma is the drama.
- Maintains proportion and perspective.
- Maintains appropriate pace.
- Demonstrates an economy of words.
- Flows uninterruptedly.
- Rewards attentive re-reading.
- Unfailingly chooses the mot juste (exactly the right word or expression).
- Makes the reader sympathize with at least one character.
- Shows rather than tells.
- Expresses the inexpressible.
- Moves you.
- Creates with a distinct voice.
Focusing in on how (or whether) a writer accomplishes these will bring the ideas that the author is communicating to the forefront of your literary discussion. While few of us seem to notice, roughly one third of the Bible is poetry, and a large portion of the rest is historical narrative- literature. It is important to understand the differences between literature and letters when approaching the Bible.
Once you begin a study of the Christian worldview, you may be surprised to learn that far more Christian literature has been written by nonchristians than many would like to admit, and far less has been written by Christians than what would seem to be fitting. We, as Christians, frequently occupy ourselves with "safe" Christianity. Safe Christianity can be illustrated by stories in which the protagonist was in dire circumstances until conversion, only to have his or her marriage cured, family restored, career progress, and life go on "happily ever after" once the gospel is received. This is hardly the kind of Christianity expressed by Christ when he calls us to take up our crosses and follow him (Matthew 16:24). Christianity, in reality, involves many trials and tribulations, struggles and temptations, hard decisions and lessons, as we live out the Christ-Life. It takes little reading of the Word to realize that God is never scared of this reality. We must never forget that all truth is God's truth, and God calls us to worship in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24). The truth about Man's fallen nature is not always "safe" and neither is His literature. As a result, the "dangerous" nonchristian literature's true expression of a fallen world of difficulty and strife is often far more accurate than the "safe" world of Christian fiction.
