Discussion – Mental Health and Mental Illness

Discussion – Mental Health and Mental Illness

In exploring the question, “In what ways does literature view and represent mental health and mental illness?” I have collected several sources that share a middle point, which is the importance of the literature on mental health. A lot of these works argue how narratives as stories can transform culture, showing the power of literary representation in nurturing empathy and understanding. For instance, scholarly articles discuss how characters in novels and poetry encapsulate the reality of mental illness and the readers feel sympathetic towards them and altogether try to challenge their biases (Maghfiroh, 2024). Still, these sources differ greatly in their tries and conclusions. Some take the position that literature’s overwhelming function is to portray mental illness so that it is seen in a more humane perspective and not as a stigma. Others argue that there are some instances where such representation can as well be harmful, especially when people are presented as mentally ill in a very simplistic manner.

One of the most interesting results has been how different rather diverse genres of literature handle the question of mental health, for instance, how poetry tends to be much more personal than novels, having more intimate explorations of the emotional landscapes as opposed to the broader narrative arcs. This difference shows the unique ways each type of writing approaches and depicts mental health and readers’ reception of such experiences (Harding, 2023). In addition, I have had to confront several difficulties in the collection of sources, such as finding the right balance between modern and classical literature. The amount of literature available and the differing perspectives on mental illness throughout history make it challenging to narrow down specific texts that would answer my research question. Approaching this challenge requires me to evaluate the relevance and contribution of each piece to my thesis, which is not an easy task. This approach is beneficial in the sense that it invites discussion on how the literature can further change concerning the treatment of mental health issues.

References

Harding, J. R. (2023). Reader response criticism and stylistics. In The Routledge Handbook of Stylistics (pp. 69-86). Routledge.

Maghfiroh, D. (2024). Narratives of mental health in modern prose literature. Journal of Literary Prose and Society, 1(1). https://jlps.polteksci.ac.id/index.php/jlps/article/view/1

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THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PERTAINS TO MY RESEARCH QUESTION: IN WHAT WAYS DOES LITERATURE VIEW AND REPRESENT MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS?

Mental Health and Mental Illness

This week’s discussion should help you begin to articulate the ideas you will be developing for your literature review.

In a well-developed paragraph (no less than 250 words), respond to the following questions:

What common ground do these sources share?
Where do they differ from one another?
What surprising information have you uncovered?
What challenges have you faced in gathering sources?