LITERATURE AND ETHICS

Milica  Denkovska

doi:10.35120/sciencej0203081d

Authors

Milica Denkovska PhD Candidate, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, “Blazhe Koneski” Faculty of Philology – Skopje

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35120/sciencej0203081d

Keywords:

Literature, Ethics, Peter Handke, Bernhard Schlink

Abstract

“Literature is the teacher of ethics” (Temkov). If one assumes that literature reflects life, then it only serves to pedagogically illustrate classic questions: how one should behave towards one’s fellow human beings, what virtue and vice are, how conflicts arise and how they are to be solved and which are the highest goods are in life. However, literature itself teaches us much more: it touches delicate issues that no other medium would dare to do. Only literary works can delicately, profoundly and provocative handle questions like love, war, guilt, (un)justice. The modern moral standards would not allow Lolita, Tadzio, or Törleß.
New theories of literature and ethics focus on the reading process because ‘literary fiction debates norms and values’. In this paper, the attempt has been made to acknowledge the value of theme diversity in literature in order to broaden the limits of moral dilemmas, but also to discuss the cultural influence, as well as the role of the narrative, author and reader in the comprehension of ethical questions. Bernhard Schlink’s “The Reader” and Peter Handke`s “Winter Journey” are only the tip of the iceberg concerning a much broader topic realm.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Milica Denkovska, PhD Candidate, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, “Blazhe Koneski” Faculty of Philology – Skopje

References

Arnold, H. L. (Hg.). (1999). Peter Handke. Text+Kritik. Heft 24, sechste Auflage: Neufassung. Verlag edition text + kritik GmbH.

Brie, S. & Rossiter, W. T. (Ed.). (2010). Literature and Ethics: From the Green Knight to the Dark Knight. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Breitenbach, D. (2019). ‘The Reader’ author turns 75. https://www.dw.com/en/german-bestselling-author-bernhard-schlink-turns-75/a-49486750

Cosgrove, S. E. (2007). Literary ethics and the novel; or, can the novel save the world? https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=creartspapers&httpsredir=1&referer=

Deichmann, T. (Hg.). (1999). Noch einmal für Jugoslawien: Peter Handke. Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag.

Denkovska, M. (2023). “OTHERNESS” DEPICTED IN TRAVELOGUES: MACEDONIA IN GERMAN-LANGUAGE TRAVELOGUES. SCIENCE International Journal, 2(2), 35–38. https://doi.org/10.35120/sciencej020235d

Handke, P. (1991). Abschied des Träumers vom Neunten Land: Eine Wirklichkeit, die vergangen ist: Erinnerung an Slowenien. Suhrkamp Verlag.

Handke, P. (1996). Eine winterliche Reise zu den Flüssen Donau, Save, Morawa und Drina oder Gerechtigkeit für Serbien. Suhrkamp Verlag.

Handke, P. (2005). Gestern unterwegs, Aufzeichnungen November 1987-Juli 1990. Jung und Jung Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag.

Handke, P. (1995). Noch einmal für Thukydides. Residenz.

Herwig G. & Freinschlag, A. (2009). Peter Handke. Böhlau Verlag.

Hogan, P. H. (2011). What Literature Teaches Us about Emotion. Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (1922). Kritik der praktischen Vernunft. Verlag von Felix Meiner.

Lacko Vidulić, S. (2019). Peter Handke: Literatur und Ethik. Zagreber germanistische Beiträge, 28 (1), 233-240. https://doi.org/10.17234/ZGB.28.11

Lyotard, J.-F. (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Manchester University Press.

Müller, W. G. (2022). Versuch der Grundlegung einer Ethik der Literatur. Fallbeispiele aus den drei Hauptgattungen. In: Internationale Zeitschrift für Kulturkomparatistik Band 5: Literatur, Philosophie, Ästhetik. 111-167.

Robinson, J. (2010). Emotion and the Understanding of Narrative. In Hagberg, G. L. and Walter J. (Ed.). A Companion to the Philosophy of Literature. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Roth, H. J. (2013). Kultur, Raum und Zeit. Ansätze zu einer vergleichenden Kulturtheorie. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.

THE READER: A MAZE OF GUILT AND MORALITY (2021). https://rsrr.in/2021/08/16/the-reader-bernhard-schlink/ Read more at RGNUL Student Research Review (RSRR): rsrr.in/2021/08/16/the-reader-bernhard-schlink/

Wägenbaur, T. (1998). Schön und gut: Literatur. In: Parapluie no. 4: Schönheit und Ideal, https://parapluie.de/archiv/schoenheit/

Темков, К. (2009). Етиката на културата. Универзитет „Св. Кирил и Методиј“.

Шлинк, Б. (2004). Читачот. ИЛИ-ИЛИ.