Definition of Art through Literary Examples
There is no one single definition for art. ... Whatever the definition of art one may provide, they all have something in common, and that is that you can’t define them. ... Which happens to also lack a proper definition. Throughout the year we have read several works that I believe have some very good artistic qualities and attributes, and can be used to give not a definition, but a better understanding of what art is and what it means to be an artist. ... He shows directly what thoughts are going through the character’s mind rather than showing it from an outside perspective. ... It is impossible, clearly, to give a single blanket definition of what it means to be an artist. But James Joyce was very artistic in his crafting of the story of Stephen, showing his development through his thoughts, and the progressions and maturity throughout the novel were artistically expressed through the methods Joyce chose to write with. ... One thing that is probably the most obvious artistic part is how he asks the question through this story, is the male artist the absolute and perfect being who has the power to create woman in the image of his desires? Does the artist love his creation, or merely the art that brought that creation into being? ... In this way, he draws our attention to his own art, and to his ability to create through speech the modern version of the myth. In doing this, he brings drama and art to a more contemporary level of understanding for the readers. The book Demian is a good example of literary art; it uses clever narration styles and several symbols throughout the story. ... Homer constantly evokes the history of the Odyssey through the stories that his characters tell. ... He starts out fairly rational, but through the use of his dialogue with other characters, he seems to be going insane in his quest for revenge. ... As you can see, I haven’t used any poems as examples to show how one is artistic with literature. ... But with these five literary sources, it is easy to see that there is no one single definition of art. ... In literary art, being artistic requires that the author not use the standard cliched methods of writing, but discovers or uses a different and ultimately more effective style to further enhance the work.