Note: This is the fourth in a series of posts that will consider the question:
What does literature have to offer (if anything) that no other art form or media (such as video games, social media, movies, TV shows, etc.) can match?
To view the first post in this series, scroll down or click here. To view the second post, scroll down or click here. To view the third post, scroll down or click here.
Consumed by Story
By Kate Sullivan, APU Honors Student
Throughout all of mankind humans have connected with stories. As Renita J. Weems says
in an essay on the womanism movement, “Stories offer readers an inner script to live by, glimpses into the way things are, and more importantly reason and a way to talk about things ought not to be” (Weems 36). We were not simply content with knowing we live on the Earth, instead we make up stories to explain why we are here and make sense of the universe in which we are immersed. As humankind has evolved, the love for stories has not dissipated. Quite the opposite outcome has occurred. Instead of a vanishing media for story telling, a plethora has showed up. A challenge now arises as we go forward: where does literature fit in this high tech era? I hold that literature will always remain important and unique because it captures the imagination in a way different from any other type of media.
Literature connects with the imagination on a deep level because as a reader we dream up a story that is uniquely our own. Although the words are the same for each reader, the characters and imagery are unique to the possessor of the story. This is a quality no other media outlet can really claim, for in movies, TV shows, and video games the character and scenery are created by the authors, and the viewer simply joins their world. The limitation of such media is the viewer only imagines what is set before them. Literature is free from this problem for in reading, the imagination is only led by the words and the rest is entirely within the discretion of the person enjoying the story. This connection gives the reader a type of ownership to the story that surpasses other media sources.
This ownership gives literature its greatest asset that no other media can capture. The deep connection to a body of literature drives a passion for the story and the ideals held in that story. William Jong comments, “Literature preserves the ideals of a people; and ideals–love, faith, duty, friendship, freedom, reverence–are the part of human life most worthy of preservation.” (Jong). The more I connect with a piece of literature, the greater it consumes me and begins to affect my life. Literature has such a tremendous power to consume a reader as they read and as they carry the story on in everyday life.
There is no question that literature will continue to survive in the high tech era that surrounds us, the question is why does it continue to be a favorite medium of so many. It will always be my favorite because literature offers a way for me to escape the reality around me and enter a completely different world. Unlike other media where I am only a visitor, in stories on paper I am the co-creator with the author. No other media has the power to make me stop, think, cry, smile, and laugh quite as well as novels. Socrates’ writings did not survive because of the special effects and sound track, they survived because they captured the mind and heart. The power of literature will always be that the author never truly owns a story; it belongs to each person who sits down and is changed by what they find.
(Note: Kate Sullivan blogs at http://collegegirlonthemove.wordpress.com/.)
Works Cited
Jong, William J., PH.D. English Literature: Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World. N.p.: Gutenburg Ebook, 2004. Gutenburg.org. Gutenburg Press, 6 Jan. 2004. Web. 21 Aug. 2012. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10609/10609-h/10609-h.htm#chap1>.
Weems, Renita J. “Re-Reading for Liberation: African American Women and the Bible.”Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World. Ed. Sugirtharajah, R. S. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006. 27-39. Print.
Comments 7
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on literature! I really appreciated the part where you talked about the reader’s imagination through literature in contrast to video games. You made such a valid point, when we play a video game everything is created FOR us and our imagination lacks. However, through literature the characters and scenery are created through our imagination BY us. Thanks for a fantastic and interesting article!
“The power of literature will always be that the author never truly owns a story; it belongs to each person who sits down and is changed by what they find.” Well said! I appreciate how a good friend and I can share the same favorite book, and yet the book may as well be two different ones for all the reasons we enjoy and are attached to the story and the characters found in it.
When you stated that “no other media has the power to make me stop, think, cry, smile, and laugh quite as well as novels,” I thought that for some people, this media may simply be a good movie. And yet your closing sentence made me realize that truly, a movie can never compare. Literature is like a magic mirror, in which each reader sees bits and pieces reflected of themselves and of the universe at large in the most personal way possible, in the forms decided by their own minds. And in this way a movie–straightforward in it’s presentation and far more unambiguous than written text, which provides any number of images, concepts, and experiences–can never compare.
I entirely concur with the theme of this blog. In media, such as films or the internet, the director or creator creates from their perspective entirely. You see the characters, the setting, the expressions. In stories, you are left to be imaginative in what the author gives you. With description, the reader is given the control of imagery in their own mind; there are no pictures or scenes to dictate it for them. Books strengthen the imagination. In the same way you practice to get achieve progress, the imagination needs practice to grow as well. Books expand the imagination in ways media prohibits.
I enjoyed how you focused on the ‘feeling’ part of a novel and what it causes a reader to experience. There is something unique about holding an alternative universe in the palms of your hands to escape to. I do agree you with you that literature will survive, but I question its relevancy and impact on the direction our culture is moving towards. I tend to think of literature as a dying art. Thanks for diving deeper into this topic!
My first thought when reading this post was that we do have this love of novels because of our ability to imagine what is happening; this thought alone is why when movies come out and are supposed to be a portrayal of a book there are so many criticisms. The scenes that we have imagined in our heads about the books do not line up with the stories that producers have imagined in their heads. I think that we are so hungry to use our imagination that the love of literature could not possibly be diminished, and although we live in a high tech world it isn’t even comparable to where literature brings us, away from the world.
I especially appreciate Kate Sullivan’s point that, “Literature connects with the imagination on a deep level because as a reader we dream up a story that is uniquely our own.”
As was noted by a previous commenter, films based on literature are sometimes widely criticized. Have you ever gone to see a movie based on a book and then left the theater ranting about how “They didn’t follow the storyline/It wasn’t how I pictured it/Why did they cast him/her as the lead?” (I have.) A lousy movie is, of course, only a small disappointment, but a lousy movie that doesn’t do justice to the world a reader creates in his or her mind is somehow slightly more disappointing.
Reading does provide a certain sense of ownership, because the story requires the reader’s engagement. The story only becomes a world when a reader enters in and envisions characters, voices, setting, scenes. It’s not that movies or TV shows don’t allow for any use of the imagination. It’s just that, by necessity, they require less. The blanks are already filled in. There is no “reader.” There is only a “viewer.”
Engaging with a story allows us to envision a reality that’s a little different than the one that surrounds us. Maybe it’s a long shot, but I like to think that engaging with an imaginary world through reading encourages us to engage more fully with the reality that surrounds us.
Wow, what a great reflection on “what does literature have to offer”. You bring out a lot of important elements that I personally agree with. For starters, I use literature in the same way to escape the reality around me and enter a completely different world. What I find fascinating about literature is how it can be analyzed in multiple perspectives, not like media, TV shows and video games. I am looking forward to listening and hearing different viewpoints on novels in class. I believe literature is necessary because it keeps people in check and allows people to use their imagination in ways media cannot. Whenever I am confused and need guidance, I turn to literature because it teaches me about reality, conflict, love, drama, or whatever I am seeking advice for. Novels explain situations in ways media forbids. I enjoyed reading your response. Great Job!