Literature can help us find unity rather than opposition

“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” — C.S. Lewis, “An Experiment in Criticism”

Much lamented in our day is the “balkanization” of our culture, nation, church and community. Balkanization: “to divide into small and mutually hostile groups,” as was the political condition of the Balkans; the reference is to the political situation in the Balkans c. 1878-1913, when the European section of the Ottoman Empire melted into small, warring nations. Must our lives be this way — and what might be the remedy?

On July 17, 2024, Pope Francis issued a splendid teaching, a letter he entitled, “On the Role of Literature in Formation.” Originally intended to direct seminaries dedicated to the education and formation of new priests, he soon discovered that “this subject applies to the formation … of all Christians” (1) He continued, “What I would like to address here is the value of reading novels and poems as a part of one’s path to personal maturity.” A large part of such “personal maturity” is the capacity for empathy, to understand the experiences and values of persons unlike ourselves — which is everyone else! Literature helps us transcend ourselves, see things as others do, and overcome our tendencies to live in opposition to others whom we don’t understand.

Thus, Pope Francis proposes, among other things, that literature can help us overcome the divisive nature of our current affairs, to find unity rather than opposition.

When I came to South Dakota last fall, my instinct was to find some fine literature that would help me “get up to speed” with the folks in the new vineyard of the Lord to which I had been called, to appreciate more fully (and as quickly as possible!) the state, its culture, and its people. Two works of literature helped me begin to overcome my limited experience of South Dakota: “Dakota: A Spiritual Geography” by Kathleen Norris and “Giants in the Earth” by O. E. Rolvaag. While Norris takes on a more modern exploration of the people of South Dakota, Rolvaag’s focus is on the homesteaders that are the founders of the State of South Dakota and, after the Lakota and other native peoples, birthed the state which we inhabit.

In response to the Holy Father’s invitation to enter into the great human adventure of literature, I am happy to announce that I will be hosting the “Bishop’s Book Club,” information about which can be found on our website here. Each month, I propose a different book for our reading. As a former teacher of literature, you will notice many offerings on the list that are what would be considered “literary”— classic novels that will give us a chance to grow in empathy and appreciation of persons both unlike us in their experiences and, at the same time, similar in our humanity and our aspirations. Further, I have included some writing that is more specifically related to our faith and a more overt “Catholic” perspective. Some of these works might seem foreign and, thus, not at first appealing. For me, this experience is part and parcel of breaking down the barrier between what I find familiar and normative, and the diverse experience and expression of others, whose perspectives will enhance and expand my own humanity.

The website will provide, each month, access to an initial “reading guide,” my introduction to the work and why I have chosen it. In addition, you will be able to find mid-month a “podcast,” a recorded conversation between myself and some others who have read the work, to engage you in a discussion about the merits of the monthly book. I can imagine these resources could assist a “book club” who might choose the book or could aid individual readers. For those who live in Rapid City, you can find copies of the books at our local Catholic bookstore, The Mustard Seed. Some of the titles are available to borrow from the public library in hard copy, e-book or audio book format.

Pope Francis concludes in his letter on literature, “Literature helps us to reflect on the meaning of our presence in this world … to grasp what lies beneath the surface of our existence. Literature, in a word, serves to interpret life, to discern its deeper meaning and its essential tensions” (33). I invite you to join me on this splendid adventure that is literature!

Surgite eamus!