ABSTRACT
Literature can explore the nature and possibilities of making sense of life in an appropriate form, in terms of narratives of individuals making or failing to make sense of their lives under specific social and historical circumstances. ‘Truth’ here is ‘the truth of appropriation’: to say a view of life is ‘true’ is to see one’s own life in its terms, with all that that implies in terms of emotion and action. To ask about such truth is to be at a loss in one’s own life, not to be confronted by an intellectual puzzle. There is, therefore, no general question which is that of life’s significance. There is no significance of life which is not significance for someone. Literature can explore the nature of this making sense of one’s life and the kinds of significance possible in specific historical circumstances.
