Didacticism

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Didacticism is an artistic philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature and other types of art. Didactic art should not primarily "entertain" or pursue the subjective goals of the artist.

In this sense, the Bible is didactic because it offers guidance in moral, religious, and ethical matters. It tells stories of the lives of people that followed Judeo-Christian teachings, and stories of people that decided to go against God and the consequences that they faced. Another example is Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism, which offers a range of criticism and advice.

The term "didactic" also refers to texts (and by extension, media, such as film or television) that are overburdened with instructive, factual, and/or otherwise "educational" information, sometimes to the detriment of a reader's (or viewer's) enjoyment. The opposite of "didactic" is "non-didactic." If a writer is more concerned with artistic qualities and techniques than with conveying a message, then that piece of work is considered to be non-didactic, even if it is instructive/educational. This has occasionally been used in tongue-in-cheek contexts, such as a mention in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" of Dukat being fond of an art form known as "didactic theatre"[1].

Some have suggested that nearly all of the best poetry is didactic. Contrarily, Edgar Allan Poe called didacticism the worst of "heresies" in his essay The Poetic Principle.

Other examples of didactic literature include:

• Instructions for Parish Priests, by John Mirk
• the poem Georgics, by Virgil
• Tracts by Tomas Stitny
• the Jataka Tales
• New England Primer
• The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes
• The Coquette

Didactic plays teach the audience through the use of a moral or a theme.

A good example of didactism in music is the chant Ut queant laxis, which was used by Guido of Arezzo to teach solfege syllables.

[edit] See also

• Art for art's sake