The debate over whether art and literature should merely exist for visual and aesthetic pleasure or serve a more profound purpose has been a longstanding discourse in aesthetics and literary criticism. Leaning toward the argument that art and literature should serve a purpose, one finds a rich tradition of thought that supports the view that these forms of expression are not just for passive enjoyment but are integral to cultivating human experience, moral insight, and societal progression.
Since Aristotle’s time, the purpose of art and literature has been a subject of philosophical inquiry. In his seminal work “Poetics”, Aristotle argued that art, specifically tragedy, serves a cathartic (Purging of feelings such as pity or fear) purpose. He suggests that art is intrinsically tied to human psychology. In Friedrich Schiller’s “Aesthetic Education of Man”, he posits that art has the potential to reconcile the rational and sensual aspects of human nature. From Bakhtin’s dialogism to Edward said’s concept of orientalism depicts how literature is often used to perpetuate different discourses.