The following essay analyzes two articles arguing for the importance of literary aestheticism as an adjunct to ideological critique.

While many people (the ingenuous) may argue that literature has no function whatsoever, and that it is only the product, like any other product, such as a Chia pet, music videos, and video games, meant solely for personal gratification, those reflective and erudite few who prefer lucubration to the mental masturbation (which video games and music videos engender) of the majority in society understand that the functions of literature and reasons for its production, and indeed everything in society that can be read as a "text", are multifarious and have a profound impact on those who "read"…