4
Literature as a means of upbringing
Textbook: pp. 20–21
GoalExplain the role of literature in a person’s upbringing.
New words
good conduct, manners (Arabic) · adabupbringing · tarbiyaempathy, sympathy · hamdardlikspiritual purification · ruhiy tozarish
Explanation
The word “adabiyot” goes back to the Arabic word “adab”. Reading an artistic work gives a person a deeper understanding of life, of people and of himself. Passages showing the results of good and evil move the reader to hold back from wrongdoing and to head toward noble goals. A reader who feels the joy and sorrow of the characters grows in empathy. In this way literature refines a reader’s feelings and cleanses the heart.
Worked examples
Example: when a hero regrets a mistake, the reader too learns from a similar mistake of his own.
Example: if your heart is heavy reading about a child’s fate in a foreign land, that is empathy.
Class activity
Write in one sentence a lesson you took from a work you read recently.
Practice
1
From which word does “adabiyot” come?
From the Arabic word “adab”.
2
How does literature develop empathy?
By letting us feel the joy and sorrow of characters.
3
How does it affect the reader when the results of good and evil are shown?
It urges him to hold back from evil and strive for good.
4
Why is reading only to “pass time” not enough?
Because literature also serves to understand life and people and to educate the heart.