“…Literature belongs to the world man constructs, not to the world he sees; to his home, not his environment.”
Northrope Frye says "literature belongs to the world a man constructs" he is meaning that literature is the tool we use for our imaginations and thoughts. It is there to help people construct thoughts and visions that may not physically exist in the real world which is meant by the phrase"not to the world he sees; to his home, not his environment." I believe in what Frye is saying, literature has always been about enabling people to form pictures and think of ideas in their mind. We have created literary terms and literature referring to almost everything in real life (people, events, items, etc.). Therefore, when we speak or write of things we can still know what these things are even if they are not right in front of our eyes, because the words let us construct an image or an idea about it in our heads. For example when we read a dinosaur book we can know what they looked like due to the descriptive words used, without actually seeing one in front of us. There connections to McCullough's speech. Forms of literature like books can enable us to gain information and learn without actually having to experience things in real life.
I think young hit the nail on the head with this one. The idea that literature is what humans construct not what they have is one of Frye's main points and I think his most interesting one.
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