Yesterday was the Easter Sunday. For Christians of all possible denominations, it is a major festival. As per the New Testament, it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died on the cross on Friday. As per the Gospels, Mary Magdalena and other women visit his tomb three days after the crucifixion. When they find the tomb empty, angels appear, and reveal resurrection which is a symbol of hope as well as the victory over death and sin.
Leo Tolstoy's eponymous novel, published in 1899, describes the Mass conducted on this holy day. It is a central event in the plot of this novel. As per the Freytag analysis of the structure of a novel, the Resurrection Mass would be part of the 'rising action'. It is one of the most beautiful, lyrical and evocative presentations of the Resurrection Mass.
As Tolstoy was basically a realist, he describes it so perfectly and precisely that you can see the candelabra shining like the snow gleaming with the rays of the early morning sun. He catches brilliantly the piety which is the perfect backdrop to the purity of the love blooming in the innocent soul of Katyusha which elevates the worldly wise Dimitri as well.
Even if you have never visited the Resurrection Mass in person, you can still visualise the loveliness of the moment. That is the power of literature. Literature is lively because it livens up reality which lives forever in the heart, soul and conscience of the reader.
Countless such examples can be multiplied. Neither time nor space can create boundaries for literature. It transcends all such liminalities to reveal the true human(e) spirit underlying all the differences.
May be, let us hence hope that the textbooks created/designed for all the languages to be taught from Standard I would be so creative that they would nurture imagination and conscience, both qualities very much needed in the already post-ChatGPT era of today!
Pratima@ Literature lives, and enlivens! Absolutely live-ly it is!
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