The concept of difficulty in literature

I'm difficult. Rather, I enjoy difficulty, at least in literature.

If I take up the task of reading, investing my time and energy into a text (which, let's be honest, in and of itself is never a simple task) I want to be challenged. I want the language of whatever it is I'm reading to force me to be an active participant in the landscape of the text. I don't want to be passive in the experience. I want literature to be the place where I work out the philosophical questions I have concerning life. But not every avid reader would agree with me.

The issue of difficulty as it arises in the academic discipline of literature is curious and predictable. Difficulty, a concern of literary scholars of varying professional agendas, both unifies and divides the academic study of literature.

Logic would therefore render the notion that proposed answers to the question of difficulty represent the proposer's motivation for existing as a member of the discipline. Whether difficulty makes literature sustainable or implosive depends on who is answering the question, or rather what it is they covey.

While some scholars desire continuance – of literature, their careers, or both – other scholars seek authority, be it for themselves or others. The way in which a scholar of literature engages the question of difficulty dictates the paradigms they operate from.

Defining difficulty in literature is a complex task, but addressing the issues relating to it can be an overwhelming canvas, as the issues are intricate and most often ambiguous. To begin with, difficulty is relative – it and the way it is approached are unique to each reader. This is in large part because the amount of effort and consideration required of the reader is enormous.

Ultimately though, the question of difficulty, like all literary questions, is in and of itself an engagement of literature, perhaps even on some level a rendezvous with oneself. How you choose to confront the question determines the answer you will arrive at.

The engagement of difficulty resolves for the self what literature is and where it is going. To get there, difficulty must first be defined and issues relating to the notion of difficulty must be addressed and explored. And these things must be placed in the context of audience to frame an effective answer to an especially unanswerable question.

The audience of a text varies greatly; no two readers are exclusively similar. Difficulty in literature will be perceived differently by each reader.

So, here's the thing. To put it as directly as possible, different people have different tastes. Some readers seek only entertainment in a text, but that does not necessarily mean they cannot find that engaging in a difficult text. Similarly, some readers prefer to read texts that are challenging, but that does not make them superior readers to readers who most value entertainment in texts – superior literary scholars perhaps, but not superior readers.

Difficulty in literature is effective, essential, and enjoyable only inasmuch as it is so for each individual reader.

Contact Caleb Whisenant at whisenant@marshall.edu.