Harold Shweizer's Perspective In Literature

When we read literature, we attempt to understand another perspective. Just as one understands the words of a book, one “attends to [the] suffering” (Schweizer) of the author, starting “an endless act of comprehension”. We can use literature as a device to understand another life. Literature helps readers gain perspective and understanding. However, Harold Schweizer questions the readers’ intents when he states “suffering can become the occasion of an endless act of comprehension”. Reading literature does not equal comprehension or understanding. Readers must first understand how their life shapes their perspective and then they must let other perceptions dominate their thoughts in order to understand the writer’s perspective. Barbara Tuchman explains that books are the foundation of life’s disciplines because “books are humanity in print”. We read books to understand other people’s culture, struggle, and perspective, but only if we desire to understand. Perspective shapes how we view reality. It gives us a skewed vision of the world. On the national level, perspective tends to be ethnocentric. Said explicates how nationalism leads to dehumanization when he states “the construction of identity… involves the construction of opposites” (Orientalism 331). The word construction is a physical noun. The word construct, meaning “to build or erect” (OED), suggests a visual of someone assembling pieces together to create an object (the identity). A nation builds an identity that shapes their perceptions of other nations. A nation associates other nations with strange practices, dehumanizing them in order to define their group as the quintessential society. Carlton J.H. Hayes was a diplomat and professor at Columbia University who pioneered the study of nationalism. In his book, Essays on Nationalism, he argues that nationalism is more of a curse than a blessing. Written in 1926, Hayes theorized several reasons nationalism would be detrimental. Hayes argued “nationalism increases the docility of the masses” (Hayes 258). Nationalism maintains the submissiveness of a nation. People in the same community are less critical of each other because they are critical of outside groups. Skewed judgements are rooted in hate for the other group as a result of fear. Alan Paton illustrates the idea of hatred for an outgroup through Reverend Theophilus Msimangu’s speech to Kumalo. Msimangu defines love as the optimal form of power when he says, “because when a man loves, he seeks no power” (Paton 71). Paton emphasizes the idea of the power of love in a concise, simple phrase. With love, man is most powerful. Jimi Hendrix spoke about this idea when he said “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” European leaders used nationalism as a destructive and oppressive force, colonizing inhabited lands. They justified colonization with the idea of the white man’s burden. It is the burden of Western colonizers to educate the native colonized peoples. The word “burden” suggests that Western nations must overcome hardships in order to complete a task. Nationalism and ethnocentrism created a perceived hardship. Not only did Western nations kill and displace millions of colonized peoples, but the West considered it to be a hardship to teach the non-West English. Dehumanization to the point where we deprive other human beings of their identity diminishes their dignity. When we view others as sub-humans with no identity, community, or individuality, we can commit human rights violations. Years of backwards thinking urged Said to write Orientalism, sparking …show more content…
Lawrence University, raises a contradiction when she states that humans “rely on each other for survival and happiness” yet “humans are humans’ most fearsome enemies” (Rediehs). To cope with this paradox, we divide ourselves by imagining political communities where they do not exist. As a possible solution, Rediehs calls for rehumanization, which she defines as “the reassertion of the priority of humans above the systems originally intended to serve humanity”. Prioritizing humans requires drastic changes in deeply rooted beliefs. To rehumanize another is to gain insight into another’s perspective. To decolonize the mind is to believe that one’s thoughts are valid regardless of race, class, sex, etc. To rehumanize is to believe that another’s dreams are as valid as your own. Reading ethnic and cultural literature is one way to understand another human being, prioritizing them above the systems we have created that devalue their