After reading the second part of Culler’s essay, “The nature of literature,” I considered the most interesting and useful part called The functions of literature.
In my opinion, essential in this section was the acknowledgment of the liberal attribute of the literature and its power over readers in general. I think, we should ask the central question of how considerable is such influence, or how dangerous or beneficial the literature could be for the moral, political, or even social aspects of our society?
What also resonated with me was when Culler said: “literature encourages solitary reading and reflection as the way to engage with the world…”(Culler, page 40). How much could we learn about other cultures without literature and its freed, artistic approach of the language, its different structures, and many times the abstract meaning of the words concerning the local politic, habits, conventions, or period of time?
In addition, literature compared to the noise of culture made me think about the significance of literature, especially if we want to live in a united society or have some ability to debate informatively about it. Thru literature, we can learn not only empathy, but we can better question what is going on around us and if it is good or not, but at the same time, keep our mind open to all other possible points of view.

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