Thursday, July 14, 2005

Words

Time seems to pass by so quickly that I find my brain and body unable to catch up with it. Or is it the tediousness of Literature as a subject, or is it the 'disabilities' of my brain and body? Literature is tedious because it requires analysis at a certain depth. The pressure increases when I am teaching it as opposed to studying it. Every word, phrase or sentence means something. I can stagnate at one particular place in the text for a long time because so many thoughts associated with it just bombard my mind. After that, I have to overcome the arduous task of expressing them in language, which is structuralist in nature! Yes, my limited knowledge of language contributes to this as well.... Darn! Hence language and literature are inextricably linked. Everything the characters say, think or do cannot be seen as literal. Contextual and figurative meaning must be embedded within. Even the authorial comments are not spared too!

Words are not just words. They have attached meanings and their proper usage can bring out one's deepest and hidden thoughts into the open. This brings about emotional pain, which is more intense and deeper, as a result. To attempt writing one's feelings out means to attempt facing one's pain, fears, hurts and rejections. There will be a tendency to cease writing hence. The difference between writing out one's thoughts and one's feelings out is the distinct difference in definition (allliteration!) between "thoughts" and "feelings". "Thoughts" are most usually associated with the head and rationality while "feelings" are more associated with the heart and emotion. That is why it is more difficult to write out one's feelings because that is when you have to face what you cannot face.

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