You will commonly be asked to compare literature to other subjects, or to other forms of media or recording. You’ll need to show that you can differentiate the subject that you’re so passionate about from other areas that could, on the surface, be very similar.
Literature & Art
A common question focusing on the relationship between literature and art is:
‘Why does a work of art sell for so much more than a work of literature?’ We must, of course, assume that the interviewer is referring to the manuscript itself, where one might actually see the original ink as put on the page by a great author. You can take two approaches here – a theoretical one or an economical one. To focus on the theoretical aspect first, you should emphasise the fact that art’s value derives (at least traditionally) from its appearance alone – we look at art and find meaning through its visuals. Therefore an original piece of art is the purest representation of that piece of art, and we can perhaps consider that the painter’s very spirit is in the brush strokes that he or she has put on the canvas. The meaning is conveyed through the brush strokes, as the meaning is the image that they create. If we compare this to a piece of literature, whilst there might still be worth in having an original manuscript and seeing original handwriting, the meaning is in the words created through the writer’s pen, not in the sweeps of the pen alone. As such the meaning is further removed from the author and perhaps more easily replicated, so an ‘original’ could be seen to be worth less. If we think of this from an economic standpoint, then we could break this down through the fact that great works of art are universally recognised at a glance and as such make obvious investment opportunities, whilst there might be more debate over great works of literature, and they will be less obvious to the common man.