Question Details

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
this sense, one can think of literature less as some inherent quality or set of qualities displayed by certain kinds of writing all the way from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf, than as a number of ways in which people relate themselves to writing. It would not be easy to isolate, from all that has been variously called ‘literature, some constant set of inherent features. In fact, it would be as impossible as trying to identify the single distinguishing feature which all games have in common. There is no ‘essence’ of literature whatsoever. Any bit of writing may be read ‘non-pragmatically’, if that is what reading a text as literature means, just as any writing may be read ‘poetically. If I pore over the railway timetable not to discover a train connection but to stimulate in myself general reflections on the speed and complexity of modern existence, then I might be said to be reading it as literaturE) John M. Ellis has argued that the term ‘literature’ operates rather like the word ‘weed’: weeds are not particular kinds of plant, but just any kind of plant which for some reason or another a gardener does not want arounD) Perhaps ‘literature’ means something like the opposite: any kind of writing which for some reason or another somebody values highly. As the philosophers might say, ‘literature’ and ‘weed’ are functional rather than ontological terms: they tell us about what we do, not about the fixed being of things.


What is the implication of the statement: “In this sense, one can think of literature less as some inherent quality or set of qualities displayed by certain kinds of writing all the way from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf, than as a number of ways in which people relate themselves to writing”?

Options

A

Literature has values that are constant and universal for all classes and races.

B

Literature has a moral dimension, which cannot be superseded by any other values.

C

Literature has values that may be interpreted differently by different subject-positions.

D

The inherent quality of literature is its literariness.

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option C

Literature has values that may be interpreted differently by different subject-positions.

Solution :

The correct option is "Literature has values that may be interpreted differently by different subject-positions."

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Analyze the Quote: The statement asserts that literature is "less as some inherent quality... than as a number of ways in which people relate themselves to writing." This shifts the definition of literature from its internal text properties ("inherent quality") to the external relationship between the reader and the text ("ways in which people relate themselves").
2. Examine the Context: The passage reinforces this by comparing "literature" to "weed"—functional terms rather than ontological ones. They tell us about what we do (how we value or relate to something) rather than the fixed, objective being of things. Therefore, the status of a text as "literature" is defined by the value attributed to it by the reader.
3. Connect to the Options: Since literature is defined by how people relate to it and value it, it follows that different individuals, groups, or "subject-positions" (social, historical, or cultural standpoints) will relate to, value, and interpret the text differently. This directly supports the idea that literature's values are not fixed or inherent but depend on interpretation from different subject-positions.

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