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From Suffering to Hope and Faith: The Pragmatic Value of Inspirational Literature
Journal
Making Sense of Suffering: Theory, Practice, Representation
Date Issued
2020-01-01
Author(s)
Gokhale, Madhavi
Malshe, Milind
Abstract
The chapter discusses how ‘inspirational’ literature addresses the problem of suffering. It first defines and categorizes inspirational writing in terms of a spectrum, ranging from explicitly inspirational writing (e.g. popular self-help books) to implicitly inspirational writing (e.g. scriptures, novels with inspiring sagas). It then discusses how the nature of such writing helps readers to inscribe meaning and purpose in the phenomenon of suffering. It highlights features of inspirational writing that effect a change in the attitude of the reader toward suffering and the human condition itself. These features include: • Absence of negativity and despair: This makes inspirational literature stand in stark contrast to contemporary nihilistic philosophy expressed in modern and postmodern literature. Darkness and despair in spiritual and motivational writing are always contextualized in the presence of a promised light that dawns later in the narrative as against the presence of ‘meaningless’ suffering depicted in the stories of Conrad or the novels of Kafka. • The prevalence of faith and hope: The Christian virtues of faith and hope pervade all such writing; these foster belief in an optimistic prognosis of the human condition. The pragmatic value of this feature is supported by research undertaken to study the philosophy and psychology of hope. • The mystical element: The chapter examines how the ‘experience of the Universal’ afforded to the mystic and ‘an affirmation of the self’ as a result of this experience helps to offer a cure for the spiritual anguish of man. The aim of the chapter is to underpin the pragmatic value of inspirational literature that offers solutions to suffering, sorrow and fear by not treating them as meaningless entities but positing reasons for their occurrence, thereby reinscribing the value of human life.
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