--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are works of literature whose…" description: "\"There are works of literature whose influence is strong but indirect because it is mediated through the whole of the culture rather than immediately th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/j-m-coetzee-2-5391_books_there-are-works-of-literature-whose-infl_2151503.jpg" --- # There are works of literature whose influence is strong… ![“There are works of literature whose influence is strong but indirect because it is mediated through the whole of the culture rather than immediately through imitation. Wordsworth is the case that comes to mind.” quote by J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/j-m-coetzee-2-5391_books_there-are-works-of-literature-whose-infl_2151503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/j-m-coetzee-2-5391_books_there-are-works-of-literature-whose-infl_2151503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/j-m-coetzee-2-5391_books_there-are-works-of-literature-whose-infl_2151503.jpg) > “There are works of literature whose influence is strong but indirect because it is mediated through the whole of the culture rather than immediately through imitation. Wordsworth is the case that comes to mind.” [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature can shape culture indirectly, influencing ideas through the collective mindset rather than direct imitation. **In simple terms:** Books affect culture by shaping ideas. Key Takeaway Read widely to understand cultural undercurrents. Themes culture literature indirect influence ideas Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - education - policy making - media analysis - creative writing Key Concepts cultural transmission intertextuality Questions to Reflect On - Which works have subtly shaped your worldview? - How do cultural shifts reflect literary trends? A Different Perspective Indirect influence may be hard to trace or measure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) ## Related quotes > [It would be hard to exaggerate Ernest Hemingway's influence over American literature, but his influence on our lives is probably larger still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-phillips/it-would-be-hard-to-exaggerate-ernest-hemingway-s-influence-over/) [Arthur Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-phillips/) > [“Occasionally, noticing an exact identity of thought between what I felt but could not articulate and the clearly expressed idea of a writer, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gopi-krishna/occasionally-noticing-an-exact-identity-of-thought-between-what-i/) [Gopi Krishna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gopi-krishna/) > [I see no marks of Wordsworths style of writing or style of thinking in my own work, yet Wordsworth is a constant presence when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/i-see-no-marks-of-wordsworths-style-of-writing-or-style-of-thinking/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [The greatest works of literature seem to embody both "art" and "morality".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-greatest-works-of-literature-seem-to-embody-both-art-and-morality/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [In science, read by preference the newest works. In literature, read the oldest. The classics are always modern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-lowell/in-science-read-by-preference-the-newest-works-in-literature-read-the/) [Amy Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-lowell/) > [In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature the oldest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/in-science-read-by-preference-the-newest-works-in-literature-the-2/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [I hate to see great works of literature ghettoized, whereas others that conform to the rules, conventions, and procedures of the genre we call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/i-hate-to-see-great-works-of-literature-ghettoized-whereas-others/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“Marx was troubled by the question of why ancient Greek art retained an ‘eternal charm’, even though the social conditions which produced it had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/marx-was-troubled-by-the-question-of-why-ancient-greek-art-retained/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [As writers, the world is not about individual expression entirely because we are producing works of literature and getting them out into the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hawthorne-deming/as-writers-the-world-is-not-about-individual-expression-entirely/) [Alison Hawthorne Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-hawthorne-deming/) > [ “These two sections \[of Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise\], plus some of the author's notes, are all we have -- this in itself is a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ir-ne-n-mirovsky/these-two-sections-of-irene-nemirovsky-s-suite-francaise-plus-some-of/) [Irène Némirovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ir-ne-n-mirovsky/) > [All great works of literature either dissolve a genre or invent one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-great-works-of-literature-either-dissolve-a-genre-or-invent-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Gospels were not thought of as works of literature. People were not concerned with the literary reputation of Matthew or Mark, but with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-g-kenyon/the-gospels-were-not-thought-of-as-works-of-literature-people-were/) [Frederic G. Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-g-kenyon/) > [In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature, the oldest. The classic literature is always modern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-science-read-by-preference-the-newest-works-in-literature-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The point about sales is relevant because it suggests there are cultures out there that are supporting and consuming, on a vast scale, challenging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kitamura/the-point-about-sales-is-relevant-because-it-suggests-there-are/) [Katie Kitamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kitamura/) > [Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/deprivation-is-for-me-what-daffodils-were-for-wordsworth/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) ## More by J. M. Coetzee > [“For I am no orator. What would I have said if they had let me go on? 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Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [“But with this woman it is as if there is no interior, only a surface across which I hunt back and forth seeking entry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/but-with-this-woman-it-is-as-if-there-is-no-interior-only-a-surface/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [You think you know what is just and what is not. I understand. We all think we know." I had no doubt, myself, then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/you-think-you-know-what-is-just-and-what-is-not-i-understand-we-all/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [The highest type of intelligence, says Aristotle, manifests itself in an ability to see connections where no one has seen them before, that is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/the-highest-type-of-intelligence-says-aristotle-manifests-itself-in/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [I am corrupted to the bone with the beauty of this forsaken world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/i-am-corrupted-to-the-bone-with-the-beauty-of-this-forsaken-world/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [Elizabeth, Lady C, claims to be writing at the limits of language. Would it not be insulting to her if I were diligently to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/elizabeth-lady-c-claims-to-be-writing-at-the-limits-of-language-would/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [Denunciations of the manipulativeness of advertisers can unfortunately all too easily be turned on their heads into denunciations of the gullibility of consumers. Both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/denunciations-of-the-manipulativeness-of-advertisers-can/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [Deprived of human intercourse, I inevitably overvalue the imagination and expect it to make the mundane glow with an aura of self-transcendence. Yet why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/deprived-of-human-intercourse-i-inevitably-overvalue-the-imagination/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [What is miraculous about the past is that we have succeeded--God knows how--in making thousands and millions of individual human beings, lock well enought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/what-is-miraculous-about-the-past-is-that-we-have-succeeded-god-knows/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [...the program of scientific experimentation that leads you to conclude that animals are imbeciles is profoundly anthropocentric. It values being able to find your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/the-program-of-scientific-experimentation-that-leads-you-to-conclude/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [The mode of consciousness of nonhuman species is quite different from human consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/the-mode-of-consciousness-of-nonhuman-species-is-quite-different-from/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [“The Empire does not require that its servants love each other, merely that they perform their duty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/the-empire-does-not-require-that-its-servants-love-each-other-merely/) [J. M. 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Coetzee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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