2. In what ways do Latter-Day Saint authors have to work around moral responsibilities when writing literature?
3. How does the Church's fierce focus on doctrinal truth effect their writings? Can a work be meaningless and still be LDS literature?
4. With LDS history often given narrative already, why is it that we push back on rewriting the poetic "embellishments" that surround our early narrative to begin with?
5. I have some issue with seeing journals, especially journals of prophets, as either doctrinal and/or literary, especially when I think of my own journals. How should faithful members treat personal records of the prophets when their personal writings may contradict with other writings? When does studying these things become historical, doctrinal, and literary?
Your last question is intriguing, as I read a lot of journals from early members of the Church in my internship. A lot of these I would not consider to be of literary quality (but are they literary since they are so historical?). It also makes me wonder to what extent authorial intent should be considered when we judge literature--can a journal entry that was meant to be personal be considered literature like a poem can?
ReplyDeleteFinding a balance between reading LDS literature for a spiritual impact and for other reasons could potentially be ambiguous. Where does one draw the line between certain texts. I think about the writings of the prophet books, while they are entertaining and contain an element of spirituality, it is not cannon scripture so I am unsure to what extent these works should be considered LDS literature.
ReplyDelete