The education system excels in producing graduates who can memorize, calculate, and replicate. What it fails to cultivate is empathy, the ability to see the world from another’s point of view.
This failure is precisely why literature is so often misunderstood and undervalued. It does not promise an immediate transformation of society, nor does it offer a clearly defined career outcome. As a result, it is frequently labelled impractical.
“What will you do with a literature degree in Bangladesh?” This question follows literature students like a shadow at family gatherings, in classrooms, and even in casual conversations.
The assumption is clear. The real problem is not literature’s usefulness, but our obsession with instant results, which fails to recognize disciplines whose impact unfolds gradually, shaping not only careers but also the moral and intellectual fabric of society.
Why literature Is undervalued
In recent times, the undervaluation of literature in Bangladesh is not an accidental phenomenon. It is the product of a highly utilitarian approach to education.
From an early age, students are taught to see education primarily as a path to secure employment with immediate financial stability. As a result, subjects are ranked not by their intellectual or social contribution, but by how quickly they translate into a job title.
In this hierarchy, fields that promise structured career trajectories and visible economic contributions naturally command respect, and rightly so. Literature is often viewed as impractical and abstract.
Appreciated as an interest, but rarely recognized as a rigorous academic pursuit. The familiar question, “What will you do with it?” speaks to a limited approach to understanding the value of an education.
What literature teaches
Literature at its core trains the mind to engage with complexity. Rather than offering fixed answers, it requires sustained attention, interpretation, and judgement.
Students are taught to analyze texts beyond their surface meanings, to question narratives, recognize bias, and interpret ideas within historical, cultural, and political contexts.
These skills shape how individuals assess information, challenge assumptions, and make reasoned judgements in everyday life -- abilities that are increasingly vital in an age of misinformation and oversimplified opinions.
Beyond analytical skill, it cultivates emotional and ethical awareness. When readers engage with literary texts, they encounter lives unlike their own.
They explore characters shaped by different social pressures, moral dilemmas, and historical realities. This imaginative engagement quietly builds empathy and teaches readers to pause before judging, to listen before reacting, and to recognize the emotional weight behind human behaviour.
Technical knowledge may explain how systems function, but literature reveals how people live within and are often constrained by those systems. In doing so, it bridges thought and feeling, analysis and compassion, allowing readers to understand not only how the world works, but how it is experienced by those who inhabit it.
Literature functions as a tool for building empathy, helping people contest societal norms about what is considered “normal.”
This is, in fact, its primary purpose.
Charles Dickens used his literary work to demonstrate the existence of child labour and poverty in nineteenth-century England, which industrial progress preferred to keep hidden from readers.
Jane Austen through her writing showed how marriage and social class created invisible barriers which restricted women from accessing various life possibilities that existed during her time.
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen shocked audiences because it presented a character who rejected social norms to pursue her personal identity.
African novelist Chinua Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart demonstrated how colonialism changed traditional Igbo society, which helped readers understand cultural transformations and their ethical problems.
These examples represent only a small part of a vast literary tradition in which writers across cultures and centuries have challenged injustice, reshaped social norms, and awakened moral consciousness.
This transformative power of literature is not limited to global literary traditions because Bangladeshi literature has also played a significant role in challenging injustice, shaping social consciousness, and inspiring collective resistance.
The Language Movement of 1952 was not only a political struggle but also a cultural awakening, in which literature played a crucial role through poetry, songs, prose, and plays celebrating linguistic identity and human dignity.
In the context of violence and displacement, literature and poetry portrayed the common suffering, memory, and hope during the Liberation War of 1971.
The literature of Bangladesh reflects authoritarian rule, inequality, and a decline in social values after independence. The importance of literature in Bangladesh lies in programs like Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, which promote an interest in literature that helps readers engage with reality, empathize with others, and become socially responsible citizens.
Apart from these collective actions, individual writers in Bangladesh have also influenced the way we perceive society.
The writings of Begum Rokeya involved various concepts related to women’s education, independence, and empowerment, which created possibilities though she did not establish any schools.
Syed Waliullah wrote stories that showed people lived by beliefs, traditions, and superstitions they considered natural while Selina Hossain’s stories mainly dealt with marginalized people, rural areas, and women.
These writers addressed social problems, but more importantly, they showed how literature changes the way people think. Countless others continue to harness literature to shape people's perspectives.
In the present context, this role is more urgent than ever. Public conversations in Bangladesh both online and offline descend into hostility, where differences of opinion around gender, belief, or identity are met with arguments rather than understanding.
This is not solely a political failure; it is a crisis of empathy and dialogue. Literature trains people to sit with complexity and ambiguity and offers an antidote to such polarization.
Literature is often overlooked because it is neither immediate nor loud. Its influence shows up in many parts of society. Journalists are more likely to report responsibly than to sensationalize conflict. Teachers encourage students to ask questions rather than just memorize. Developmental professionals seek to understand the community beyond numbers, while healthcare workers and politicians consider the human element of their decisions.
In a world divided by class, politics, and change, understanding social reality and engaging respectfully across differences is not optional; it is necessary. Education without literature undermines this ability, creating graduates who may be highly competent in their field but socially and ethically unprepared for life.
Literary texts cannot resolve conflicts overnight, whether in society or in an individual’s mind. What it can do is mold the way we approach them.
Through the exposure of different lives and ideas, literature instills patience, moderation, and thoughtful reflection. It is not about providing answers, but about providing tools to think with clarity to ask better questions and to listen more intently.
Prioritizing literature in education is, in fact, about creating the kind of society we wish to build, because these qualities take time to develop; but once formed, they shape all other ways of thinking.
Fahmina Islam Dipta is a freelance contributor.