Literary notes about artisan (AI summary)
The term "artisan" in literature is employed to evoke images of skilled craftsmanship, social identity, and even moral character. Authors depict artisans not merely as manual laborers but as individuals with pride and expertise in their trades, as seen when a character asserts his dual identity as both artisan and house-owner ([1]). In some works, the word is imbued with philosophical overtones, suggesting that true excellence comes when one dedicates oneself wholly to the craft—even to the point of being enslaved by it ([2]). Other texts contrast the artisan with the artist, emphasizing a practical, workaday skill over a more exalted creative genius ([3]). The term also functions as a marker of class distinctions and resilience in various cultural narratives, appearing in discussions of economic conditions, social order, and even personal honor ([4], [5], [6]).
- And it isn’t as though I were a simple peasant: I’m an artisan and a house-owner.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "The artisan only attains excellence in proportion as he becomes a slave," and the slave is only a living instrument of the good life.
— from Politics: A Treatise on Government by Aristotle - It is just the little difference between the good and the best that makes the difference between the artist and the artisan.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - Listen to me, you, Feuilly, valiant artisan, man of the people.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - The rules of the labor union are designed, not simply to raise wages, but to guard against any likeness between artisan and servant.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois - He was a man of lofty stature, half peasant, half artisan.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
