The role of literature

The Danger of a Single Story Introduction Stories are important because they educate us, they remind us, they show us a different side of the world and they help break the monotony of reality by providing readers with an escape route through which they can immerse themselves for a while. According to Wells, (1986), children find it easier to assimilate new information when this information is presented in the form of a story.
Role of Literature
Literature therefore has a very important role to play in our society:
i. Communicating culture. The best way to communicate to the outside world about your culture is through literature. Take for instance the student who asked Chimamanda why Nigerian are so violent. This student had only read such stories and therefore to him/her it painted a picture of how the men are. If we as a people want to communicate our culture then we ought to write about our culture. Chimamanda realized that most of her stories were about blue-eyed, white children as she forgot to write about her own people.
“ Show a people as one thing — as only one thing — over and over again, and that is what they become.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ii. Improving self-concept. Most young writers suffer from one problem, they tend to write stories about either end of the extremes. The characters are either filthy rich or live in abject poverty, they are either miserable or happy and full of life. That is why Chimamanda says that, “…I did not know that people like me could exist in literature.” When she read literature of similar people she realized that she could also exist in literature. Her self-concept was improved.
References
Adichie. C. The Danger of a Single Story.