TU || Model question answer for Critical Thinking B.A. Third Year

Level: B.A. 3rd Year || Subject: Critical Thinking
Language, Linguistics and Literature

1. What is the basic relation between linguistics and literature?

Ans: Basic relation between linguistics, literature and language is complex. Language is the medium of communication; it is the system of human beings and their existence. Language is the medium of the text. Literature is a textual form supposed to be more expressive and referential.

          Language is the producer of literary texts, the language of our day to day communication completely different from literary language. Colloquial language is direct, precise, exact, one dimensional and denotative, and it has the same meaning for all the readers. But the language of literature is contextual, connotative, implied, ambiguous, and it always has the effects of time and space.

           Linguistics is the science of language and its uses. Linguistics as a branch of studies is used to have proper investigation of language. At the present time there is a hot debate between two groups of thinkers: linguists and literature critics. Linguists opine that linguistics is essential for the proper understanding and interpretation of linguistic text. But the supporters of literary texts assume that literary text is all above the common use of language. They argue that literature is different than ordinary language of ordinary ment; that's why there is no place and space for linguistics in literary analysis.

          It is true that literature itself is the product of common language that we practice in our day to day life. Literary text is made of and by language so that we can't neglect, deny or avoid the application of linguistics and its tools in literary commentary and interpretation.

          There is still a debate between hardliners of literary text and the supporters of linguistics. Literary texts and their analysis cannot be justified and agreed on without the application of linguistics. We know that linguistics has its own method of observation, calculation and judgment of various texts which cannot be easily applied in literary text even though we cannot put linguistics aside and far from literary text.

Note: For more questions of this subject please visit another post. Thank You.