Today's post is just a mishmash of whatever...
First, thanks so much to Kathi for the blogger award! It is so nice to hear that somewhere out there in the deep abyss people actually read and appreciate what I write.
Second, yesterday I was able to mail off a revised FHE manuscript to the publisher. Say a little prayer for me that it will be accepted!
Third, I have been reading a ton the past week and have really enjoyed some great books. I am excited to share some more reviews with you all in the weeks to come.
Finally, here is the next portion of the Future of Literature article I first posted last week. To read the first portion, click here.
What is shaping literature and its future?
I flash back to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, which came out in 1969. It seemed to be a plot that had exploded, which you then had to piece together. It seemed to acknowledge the fact that you couldn't put all the pieces together right away. At the end of the novel, it still felt like it was going on. The acknowledgment that things are going to be playing out beyond the provenance of the work of fiction had some of its seeds right there. I think you see more of a willingness in literature to acknowledge the fact that this is not a perfectly shaped whole, that things are going to be messy.
Things like the iPad and Kindle will allow us to carry around massive amounts of literature. Because of that literature is going to be looking for different ways to distinguish itself from mass media, and its going to feel freer to experiment. Because of movies which satisfy so many people's need for visual effect and aural effect combined, theater is going to go increasingly toward things that only theater can do. In the new poetry, I see a fascinating confidence in switching viewpoints very quickly, in mid-sentence practically. So there's a speeding up of changing viewpoints and expressions that comes from technology speeding us up and the fact that you can keep several screens open at a time and divide your attention. The narratives are getting faster and are having more interruptions because we can tolerate interruption.
Scripture of the Day: 2 Nephi 9:18
So what do you think about all of this?
ReplyDeleteNot having read the entire article, it is hard to form an educated opinion, but something just feels wrong to me about the over abundance of media in all forms in our lives. Everyone is trying harder to be louder, faster, brighter, darker, and occupy the attention of more of our senses. (Have you noticed that all the new movies coming out are in 3-D?)
That might now always be a bad thing, but the spirit works in quiet ways that requires pondering. I found in teaching the youth for many years that they get so used to having everything thrown at them, quickly and in a very entertaining way that they struggle when it is quiet and they are requied to ponder and evaluate--for a while at least until they get used to it.
Anyway, I was just wondering what your thoughts were.
Lori, You are right--i think it is mostly a distraction. It captures our interest and keeps us occupied and our minds from hearing the Spirit. I have been trying harder lately to keep our home quieter on Sundays so my children can see a marked difference in the Spirit. No TV and other media. I think as parents we need to take time to teach kids to be media literate (think about what we are seeing/doing) and to understand that to really dial in to the Spirit we need to be willing to step back and away from 99% of media out there. B.
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