Moral literature
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Moral literature is a type of writing that focuses on ethical values, moral principles and questions of right and wrong with the purpose of shaping behaviour. It encompasses a variety of genres, such as wisdom literature, fables, proverbs, parables, apologues, exempla, morality plays, courtesy books, cautionary tales, and conduct books.[1][2]
Definition
[edit]Professor Leland Ryken defines moral literature as "literature that offers moral behavior for the reader’s approval or that influences a reader to behave in a moral way".[3]
Professor Robert C. Evans defines it as "literature that helped people to distinguish right from wrong and encourage them to choose virtue over vice".[4]
Robert McAfee Brown states that is difficult to think of any kind of literature that does not have some kind of moral intention behind it, but some narratives have an explicit moral intent.[5][6]
Moral literature should not be confused with literature that treats morality as a subject matter, such as treatises on moral philosophy, although the two influence each other.[7]
History
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Moral literature has ancient roots, and it is among the oldest known literature. The earliest examples come from Mesopotamian and Egyptian wisdom literature dating to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. They consisted in maxims taught by sages or scribes regarding the best way of carrying one's life. Some notable examples are the Instructions of Shuruppak, the Counsels of Wisdom and The Maxims of Ptahhotep.[8]
Sumerian proverbs written 1,500 years BC often included animal or insect characters and a moral lesson at the end, aspects that would later characterise fables.[9] Among the earliest and most famous fables we can find Aesop's Fables from Ancient Greece (6th century BC) and the Indian collection Panchatantra (c. 200 BC).[10][11]
In the religious context, moral literature adopted the form of parables, which are short fictional stories that teach a moral lesson. The Bible contains several parables, such as the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Lost Sheep, and the Sower. Around 40 parables are also present in the Quran, and they play an important role in Buddhism, in particular in the Mahayana movement. They can also be found in Sufism, Rabbinic Judaism and Hasidism.[12]
In China, during the late Song dynasty (960–1279), the Analects, a collection of proverbs attributed to Confucius, became one of the central books of Confucianism.[13] Confucius believed that a country's well-being relied on the moral development of its people, starting with those in positions of leadership.[14]
In late medieval Europe, the genre known exemplum had an important role in writing and culture.[15] This genre consisted in short illustrative stories that taught a moral lesson and helped preachers to adorn their sermons. It was inspired by the roman tradition of exempla and the fable.[16]
Fables had a resurgence in the Middle Ages with Planudes' Greek translation of Aesop's Fables, published in Constantinople in 1447.[17] And the genre would reach its zenith in Europe in the 17th century with Jean de la Fontaine, who began by adapting Aesop's Fables and expanded them with consecutive collections.[18]
In Great Britain, children's writers of the 1740s and 1750s experimented with short fictions designed to teach behavioural and ethical lessons. One of the earliest examples was The Christmass-Box, published in 1746 by M. Cooper and M. Boreman. The work was written under the pseudonym "Mary Homebred", which was used by the novelist Mary Collyer.[2]
By the end of the century, these stories were known as "moral tales", and became longer and more elaborate. Writers like Maria Edgeworth introduced complex characters in situations where there was not necessarily a clear moral path. Moral tales usually taught values such as hard work, thrift, honesty, solicitude for others, politeness, charity, and obedience to parents.[2]
The 18th and 19th centuries saw the proliferation of conduct books. They were usually written for young people, instructed on ethical issues, and served as manuals on behaviour and social norms.[19]
In the early 19th century, the First Great Awakening led to an increase in religious-inspired moral texts, of which the most famous was probably The History of the Fairchild Family, by Mary Martha Sherwood.[2] During the Victorian era, fairy tales were modified to include moral lessons. Charles Dickens complained about this trend in an essay titled "Frauds on the Fairies", published in 1853, arguing that "Fairy tales should be respected".[20]
Moral literature declined in popularity in Western literature during the first half of the twentieth century.[21][22] In China, the importance of Confucian literature in education and official life also declined during the first half of the 20th century, particularly after the abolition of the imperial examination system in 1905.[23]
Current views
[edit]In his 1978 book On Moral Fiction, novelist John Gardner criticised what he saw as contemporary literature's lack of morality, and argued that morality is the highest purpose of art.[24]
In 1993, William Bennett published The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories, an anthology of 370 passages across ten chapters dedicated to a different virtue (self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty, and faith), drawn from different ancient an modern texts.[25] According to Bennett, he wrote the book at the behest of teachers who complained about the lack of moral education tools.[26]
Research has shown that exposure to moral literature positively affects assimiliation of virtues and enhances ethical reflection.[27][28][29] Hakemulder argues that literature can be considered a "moral laboratory", where human conduct and ideas can be studied in a controlled way.[30]
Notable works
[edit]- Instructions of Kagemni, by Kagemni I (2613–2589 BC)
- Instruction of Hardjedef, by Hardjedef (between 25th century BC and 24th century BC)
- The Maxims of Ptahhotep, by Ptahhotep (around 2375–2350 BC)
- The Analects, by Confucius. (c. 500-200 BC)
- Aesop's Fables by Aesop. (c. 500 BC)
- The Panchatantra, by Vishnu Sarma (c. 300 BC)
- Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, by Seneca the Younger, (c. 65 AD)
- The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (1320)
- The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian (1480s)
- The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan (1678)
- A Father's Legacy to His Daughters, by John Gregory (1774).
- Moral Tales for Young People, by Maria Edgeworth (1801)
- The Children's Book of Moral Lessons, by Frederick James Gould (1897)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl (1964)[31]
- The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories, by William Bennett (1993)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Dolan, Timothy (March 2020). "Science Fiction as Moral Allegory". Journal of Futures Studies. 24 (3): 105–112.
- 1 2 3 4 "Moral and instructive children's literature | The British Library". British Library. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ Ryken, Leland (2003). Realms of Gold (PDF). Wipf & Stock. p. 11. ISBN 1-59244-340-0.
- ↑ Evans, Robert C. (2015). Perspectives on Renaissance Poetry. Bloomsbury. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4725-0570-5.
- ↑ Brown, Robert McAfee (1984). "The Nathan Syndrome: Stories with a Moral Intention". Religion & Literature. 16 (1). The University of Notre Dame: 49–59. ISSN 0888-3769.
- ↑ Carden, Clarissa (2018-01-17). "Reading to the soul: narrative imagery and moral education in early to mid-twentieth-century Queensland". History of Education. 47: 269–284. doi:10.1080/0046760X.2017.1420242.
- ↑ Raphael, D. D. (1983). "Can Literature Be Moral Philosophy?". New Literary History. 15 (1). Johns Hopkins University Press: 1–12. doi:10.2307/468990. ISSN 0028-6087.
- ↑ Edu, World History (2024-12-09). "Wisdom Literature in Ancient Near East". World History Edu. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Horgan, John (2014-03-08). "Aesop's Fables". World History Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Iyanda, Rabiu Olayinka (2019). "Fables as Panacea to Unethical Behaviours in Societies". Electronic Research Journal of Literature. 1. SSRN 3607957.
- ↑ Nandana, N. G. (May 2019). "Moral Ethics of East and the West: A Comparative Study of Panchatantra and Aesop's Fables" (PDF). Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal. 9: 508.
- ↑ "Parable | Definition, Meaning, Examples, & Historical Development". Britannica. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Kim, Youngmin (2020). "Zhu Xi's Political Philosophy in Context: With Special Focus on His Commentaries of the Four Books". Dao Companion to ZHU Xi's Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy. Vol. 13. pp. 499–522. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29175-4_22. ISBN 978-3-030-29174-7.
- ↑ Gardner, Daniel K. (2014). "Confucius (551–479 BCE) and his legacy: An introduction". Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction. pp. 1–15. doi:10.1093/actrade/9780195398915.003.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-539891-5.
- ↑ Scanlon, Larry (2017). "Exemplum". The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain. pp. 1–6. doi:10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb494. ISBN 978-1-118-39698-8.
- ↑ Coxon, Sebastian (2006). "Medieval Literature". The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies. 68: 672–700. JSTOR 25834007.
- ↑ de la Fontaine, Jean (1987). "Introduction". The Fables. London: Bloomsbury Books. p. 8. ISBN 1-870630-35-1.
- ↑ "Fable | Literary Genre, Characteristics & Examples". Britannica. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Georgia, Jennifer Claire (1994). Polite literature: Conduct books and the novel in eighteenth-century England (Thesis).[page needed]
- ↑ "Charles Dickens's "Frauds on the Fairies" (1 October 1853)". victorianweb.org. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ Mitchell, Rebecca N. (2019). "The Ethical Turn". The Routledge Companion to Victorian Literature. pp. 226–236. doi:10.4324/9780429507724-21. ISBN 978-0-429-50772-4.
- ↑ Wheeler, Melissa A.; McGrath, Melanie J.; Haslam, Nick (2019). "Twentieth century morality: The rise and fall of moral concepts from 1900 to 2007". PLOS ONE. 14 (2) e0212267. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1412267W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212267. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6392263. PMID 30811461.
- ↑ Bai, Ying (November 2019). "Farewell to confucianism: The modernizing effect of dismantling China's imperial examination system". Journal of Development Economics. 141 102382. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102382.
- ↑ Hicks, Rachel E. (2022-08-26). "OLD BOOKS, Part IV: On Moral Fiction, by John Gardner". Rachel E. Hicks. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Muehlenberg, Bill (1999-02-23). "A review of The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories. Edited by William J. Bennett". CultureWatch. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ "Bill Bennett on Education Reform, The Book of Virtues, & the War on Drugs". Conversations with Bill Kristol. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Mariano, Lois S. (April 1996). Teaching Tales of Virtue: The Effect of Moral Literature on Middle School Students (PDF) (Thesis). pp. 6–8. ERIC ED394145.
- ↑ Hart, Peter; Oliveira, Gisela; Pike, Mark (2020). "Teaching Virtues through Literature: Learning from the 'Narnian Virtues' Character Education Research". Journal of Beliefs & Values. 41 (4): 474–488. doi:10.1080/13617672.2019.1689544. ERIC EJ1273375.
- ↑ Hakemulder 2000, p. 147.
- ↑ Hakemulder 2000, p. 150.
- ↑ Billsberry, Jon; Gilbert, Louise H. (2008-04-01). "Using Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory To Teach Different Recruitment and Selection Paradigms". Journal of Management Education. 32 (2). SAGE Publications Inc: 228–247. doi:10.1177/1052562907312980. ISSN 1052-5629.
Bibliography
[edit]- Hakemulder, Jèmeljan (2000). The Moral Laboratory: Experiments examining the effects of reading literature on social perception and moral self-concept. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 90-272-2223-1.
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