Theory of Knowledge

Agnes
Practice Essay

9. Can literature "tell the truth" better than other Arts or Areas of
Knowledge?

Does Arts tell truth? What 'truth' does it tell? What is 'truth' in
literature? Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), a novelist whose works
include the famous War and Peace, once defined art's way of knowing,
"To evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced, and having evoked
it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colours, sounds or
forms, expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may
experience the same feeling - that is the activity of art. Art is a human
activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of
certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived
through, and that other people are infected by these feelings, and also
experience them." Simply speaking, 'truth' is told by an art when its
artist transmits a personal feeling or message to another person
through the art. Artists takes 'truth' and recreate it in another context
and with another form, such that it would be received and more easily
digested by an audience.

Literature is a form of art created with language. It consists of a wide

field including poetry, essays, fiction, biography, journalism,
screenplays, etc. With use of words, the 'truth' told is more direct and
specific. In literature, thoughts of the artist can be directly expressed
with precision. Through satirical works, statements about the truth of
the surrounding society of the artist can be made. Through poetry,
with literary devices like metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, repetition,
alliteration, etc, the emotions of the artist regarding his or her
surroundings can be expressed. Through words in this form, the
readers is allowed to 'see' what the artist sees and feel the emotions
the artist feels.

For example, in the poem 'A Dream Within A Dream' by Edgar Allen
Poe (1809-1849), the lines "And I hold within my hand/ Grains of the
golden sand -/ How few! yet how they creep/Through my fingers to the
deep/ While I weep - while I weep!" dramatizes the narrator's confusion
in watching the important things in his life slip away, allowing the
reader to experience, in a way, or at least interpret the panic,
frustration, despair expressed implicitly in the literary piece.

In Anita Desai's book, 'Games at Twilight', through the setting of the

short stories, the common cultural aspect of India at the time can be
'seen'. In 'A Devoted Son', the writer allows the reader to interpret the
knowledge of how social status works in that society, where a doctor is
regarded as a high class and lucrative occupation and gains respect
from all that know him, as well as how a father can be most proud of
his son becoming a doctor while being completely ignorant about
medicine and health at the same time.

However, as an oriental quote first introduced in the USA by a

publisher Frederick R. Barnard, "a picture is worth a thousand words".
A lot of imagination is required for the reader when interpreting the
description of a scene. No length of words can transmit knowledge of a
scene or an object or even a facial expression better, more effectively
and accurately, than a visual replica, a photo or a painting, as when
trying to describe the breathtaking scene of Angkor Wat, the famous
temple complex in Angkor, Cambodia.

In fact, all visual arts as well as music share one great advantage over
literature when 'telling the truth', which is freedom from the ambiguity
of language. In translated pieces of literature, losses of meaning during
translation are inevitable. While words often creates a limitation to our
extent of knowing, visual arts is wordless but with external symbols.

In abstract art, by eliminating recognisable figures and objects, artists

are free to express their feelings with abstract lines, colours and
shapes. Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) once described one of his
works as "an exact replica of an inner emotion", where this inner
emotion is the 'truth' of the piece of art the artist wants another person
to 'know', an abstract knowledge that cannot be transmitted with
words in literature as there are often no precise words in existence for
such specific and unique emotions.

With music, its external symbols, the musical sounds, can recreate
feeling evoked in the compose within audience in a style no language
can be and with no effectiveness other forms of Art. Especially when
these feelings that are created uniquely by music are feelings that
cannot be expressed in language, words are simply inadequate, as
with the indescribable soothing tranquility experienced upon hearing
Johannes Brahms' Op. 49 No. 4 Wiegenlied (commonly known as
Lullaby).

Furthermore, even architecture can 'tell the truth' better than

literature, as with the Notre Dame de Paris, France. The Cathedral is
considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in
Europe with a unique naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass.
The mediaeval architects' great pride and commitment for their
religion, the glory of their God, is shown transmitted through this
architectural art transcends any attempt to put this feeling into words,
as when compared with any prayer or poem dedicated to their Hail
Mary. There is also no more convincing way of telling the 'truth' of the
power and wealth and opulence of the dynastic ruling families than the
extravagant architecture of the Imperial Palaces of the Forbidden City
in Beijing itself.

On the other hand, other Areas of Knowledge like Natural Science,

Mathematics and the Human Sciences tells truth that is much more
objective. The process of acquiring knowledge in the natural sciences
consists of observation, reasoning and experimenting. When the best
way to 'tell the truth' means to achieve concrete answers that disallow
doubt and misinterpretation, the sciences are naturally better. Even
statements in sciences that are not yet proved to be true are named as
"theories", waiting to be tested.

Especially with the method of falsification, false 'truths' can be proved

to be wrong and abandoned, which allows sciences to be much
reliable, frequently corrected and updated, and objectively 'true'. Even
though for centuries, Aristotle's (384 BC - 322 BC) theory, that a
heavier object would fall faster than a lighter one, was believed to be
true, it was eventually disproved, evidently by Galileo (1564-1642),
and immediately replaced with a modified 'truth', that "all unequal
weights would fall with the same finite speed in a vacuum."

Arts, whereas, is very subjective, as the 'truth' transmitted and

interpreted can differ from knower to knower, depending on the
knower's personal perspective. Take the Guernica by Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973), interpretations of the painting vary widely and even
contradict one another. After an in-depth interpretation by an art
historian Patricia Failing, Picasso himself expressed, "If you give a
meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is
not my idea to give this meaning." Hence, one can argue the Arts,
including literature, cannot 'tell the truth' as there is an inevitable open
vagueness around the interpreted conclusions, influenced greatly by
each knower's personal biases and background.

But when relating history with literature, literary works based on

history often transmits the piece of historical knowledge much
effectively than the documents of the history. For example, while there
are many evidence and files that can tell the truth about the history of
Julius Caesar, the Julius Caesar play by William Shakespeare (1564-
1616) shows that all the truths behind this history can be presented in
a much more appealing and told with more impact.

Additionally, the discovery of the Moral Law in ethics is, interestingly,

one truth that many believe to have come from literature. Through
literature, readers can even deduce the moral standards or even
judgments of the writer, to the extent of understanding the underlying
culture and background of the society the writer lives in, sometimes
the 'truth' of literature. A short story by Primo Levi (1919-1987), 'Order
on the Cheap', has a theme over the extent of the power of science.
Through the character's actions and behaviour and by use of a foil to
the biased first person narration, the moral dilemma of whether we
should create life if we could is explored by the writer and presented to
the readers. In this way, the audience is compelled to reflect on this
knowledge issue and establish their own code of ethics.

Nonetheless, the 'truth' of the arts is difficult to put into words,

because it usually transcends words. One often has immense difficulty
explaining the thoughts and feelings in a poem even though one can
respond emotionally to it. It is impossible to explain adequately in
words the knowledge created by Beethoven's 6th Symphony, nor is a
description of Van Gogh's Starry Night ever a satisfactory substitute for
the painting itself. Some, like C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), believe that
truth is much more than empirical data and observations from science.
The 'truth' of art is knowledge acquired by introspection, belief and
acquaintance, by our ability to empathise.

As 2005 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Harold Pinter, stated, "The
real truth is that there never is any such thing as one truth to be found
in dramatic art. There are many." If literature can present many truths
at one time, then literature tells these 'truths' better than other Arts or
Areas of Knowledge. In any case, it is undeniable that the best way of
knowing often depends on the implication of the truth in question.

(Word count: 1,565)

Bibliography:

Michael Woolman, Ways of Knowing - An Introduction to Theory of

Knowledge, 2nd ed. (IBID Press, Victoria, 2006) 219-232.