English Literature And Theory This blog contains the explanation of various critical theories that provide a new insight to view literature and interpretation of various literary texts.

The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Greece is an extract from "From The Golden Bough(1890)" written by Sir James Frazer(!884-1941). Below is a thorough summary of the text.

Custom of sacrificing scapegoat seem to be originated as precaution of possible calamity, crisis and danger but the scapegoat was likely to come from the poorer class. Modes of sacrificing scapegoat differs from culture to culture. But the underline objective/purpose of sacrificing in every culture is same i.e purification of sin. Other objectives of scapegoating were to prevent calamity, disasters, starvation, suffering, tragedy and so on.

It was believed that scapegoating helped regain the fertility of the soil and vegetation(crops) yielded as expected by husbandsmen. Similarly practitioners of scapegoating believed that their offering of scapegoat would herald (to bring something surprisingly) good fortunes and happiness. Besides, tradition of human scapegoating was widely practiced in different parts of ancient Greece with an aim of averting evil spirit and malignant force. Though rational behind offspring scapegoat cannot be justified, it is deeply rooted in various cultures as an essential part of culture.

Sir Frazer concludes that through scapegoating, it practised with specific mission, ultimately it is nothing but search of power or search of support of super power. He also concludes that tradition of scapegoating shows that there is abundant use of power. It is the fact that the one who is made a scapegoat come from socially outcast group or from powerful class of people. At the same time it is noticeable that powerful ones offered powerless as scapegoat with an expectation of having good fortune and success.

Literature can help learners to develop their understanding of other cultures, awareness of 'difference' and to develop the tolerance and understanding. At the same time literary texts can deal with universal themes such as love, war and loss that are not always covered in the sanitized world of coursebooks.

Exposure to multicultural literature can help all of us to understand that there are many different ways to live and many different views on what is important on our lives. While reading about characters from a culture other than our own, we learn that often cultures have more similarities than differences. They are exposed to human themes such as honesty, justice, and love for family that go beyond culture. Such exposure can contribute to greater understanding of our own culture as well as the cultures of others in our country and around the world. Literature is the mirror of the society. It studies human nature. We see human nature through tragedy and romance, joy and sorrow, in acceptance and denial, and in moments of heroism and in moment of fear.

Next literature from other cultures offers teachers and students a powerful resource for learning. Although it can be difficult to locate foreign literature, the benefits of using these books are significant. Foreign literature can open up the world to native readers, creating new understanding and appreciation for other cultures. This literature is also a natural way to teach across curriculum, connecting good literature to history, geography, politics, or science. Moreover, foreign literature is often demanding to read, appealing to other adolescents for whom much of literature may not be challenging enough. The field of literature is enriched by works from other countries.