media and literature essay

media and literature essay

The Influence of Media on Literature

1. Introduction

It is precisely the intention of the present article to deepen the apprehension on these relationships, highlighting the interference of the media on the literature paratexts and how these, inevitably, end up by influencing the edition of the literary work. I am going to study the case of the Portuguese press of the second half of the 20th century, exploring by means of content analysis the excerpts the press has published of some of the great masters of the national of that period, like the poetess Natália Correia, the poet Gastão Cruz and the novelist Almeida Faria, in a tripartite approach based on how the press, by the way it presents its texts, influence the choices to be made in the subsequent editions of each literary work.

Literature and the media, two wavelengths functioning in the same hemisphere, are linked as not many other arts: literature has the media as intermediaries and also as intermediaries between already published literary works and its readers. On the other hand, is within literature that many media products are created. According to Adelmo Genro Filho, both, never confused in the history of mankind, end up interacting with such force in our time, and are many and undeniable the approaches as well as the necessary distinctions justifying the articulation of these two universe situations – they refer to different lines of force and to specific types of texts, to distinct and specific reading positions and to no less distinct, conditioning different types of different appropriations of the meanings externalized in a way and in a other. As stated by the Brazilian specialist in the field of culture and communication, “in all cultures literature and ‘other narratives’ used to be ‘inseparable’, although currents and distances could change, and the relationship could be very close or very remote”.

2. Impact of Media on Literary Themes

Gone with the wind, Thome Jones (Thomas Jones) and Dr Zhivago are just a few examples of famous literary novels which were successfully translated into films. Specifically, Dr Zhivago, because the character was played by Omar Shariff, was much more successful than the two others when it was released. The fact that the characters had great physical beauty probably had much greater appeal to movie-goers as a whole. The fact that it was a love story was the major factor that made the film a resounding success. During the early 1970s, there was a great demand for printed copies of the novel in the U.S. This was in great contrast to the rest of America at that time as the characters of the film ‘started’ a love affair during a long period of time. It made film-goers very curious about the loving relationship of the two characters.

I believe that writers are greatly taken in by the works of mass media. The fact that big movie stars are contracted to play in a film based on their novels is seen as a great honor by these writers. As it turns out, the ideals and ideas advertised on the screen are better accepted by the people who watch them than the ideals and ideas suggested by spiritual leaders. The big stars are greater factors in influencing audiences than the writers who create the original books from which the stories of the movies are adapted. The works of the writers are put in second places and are, therefore, seen as a means to a greater end. Cine-goers are not particularly interested in the words and expressions of the characters of the movies. Imitating other individuals who are interested in the characters of the film to form cultural ideas and values is more attractive.

3. Role of Social Media in Literature

Literature can be seen as a mirror of changes in society or it can influence changes in society. Literature can also act as a container or box of social changes. But a work can have an impact or inflamed society in the social change. The role of creating changes is also acted by literature. Literature has a powerful role in the life of human beings. This is very effective. So, what is very good in literature or the same as the benefits and functions that the teacher always teaches is not only the student reading literature through books but also reading literature through the show. By utilizing the technology of social media, novels can now be read in the version of the web, blog pages, or other electronic files which some are made for free because every reader can access them through personal electronic devices.

This present time also refers to the digital age. In this digital age, technology dominates human life. One form of technology that is often used is social media. Social media is a means to convey information in a two-way communication. In writing literature, it has always been to convey understanding, to correct understanding, and to entertain. In social media to convey and convey understanding can be done by sharing and giving support. Social media can be a bridge in literature. Social media can be a stage to show off your literary pieces, and if the student has special talents in the world of literature, social media can be the stage to improve these students. Social media can also show students’ work and get a response from the public and this public response is used for self-correction. Literature can entertain, similarly social media only its entertainment is different. Therefore through this social media, students can take advantage of each named technology to write.

4. Challenges Faced by Traditional Literature

Secondly, the revenue generated from a single book, called its royalties; particularly when it comes to new authors and even to prolific ones, is much smaller than the candidates often expect, considering the time the author has put into writing it. Also, many authors are afflicted by what Jack Kerouac refers to as “altruism,” the “unusual good fortune, as one of my writing teachers used to call it when asking how many works the writer had priced for market, and which only self-destructive behaviors, such as alcoholism and drug abuse, seem to ameliorate”. By contrast to the low royalties of books, the earning potential of the internet, for instance, is enormous, as it supplies news, entertainment, and other services, a plethora of media forms that are essential for the day-to-day needs of billions of clients worldwide on a global and digital platform. With a computer and an internet connection, the basic utility charges and the cost of the computer being the only important impediments, more people have the potential to become producers of information, while traditional media are based on centralized production and distribution processes which require varied resources.

Challenges faced by traditional literature. Literature could easily be threatened by the coming of the various forms of modern media, including the internet, for a number of reasons. Firstly, books, as with other forms of traditional literature, take a long time, measured in years, to write. The time of the actual writing is just a part of the entire process of book production, from conceptualizing the plot, to developing the characters and subplots, revisions, copyediting, marketing and selling the book, as well as a host of other relatively small tasks. Completing a book is equivalent to giving birth, because it is the product of a long and delicate process. In common with parents, authors put much time, effort, resources and pride at stake when producing a long-lasting and fully immersive narrative form.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the objective of the essay was to illustrate the negative side of media to spheres of human life. The intention is not to claim that media had not had desirable consequences on subject populations. It is fervently believed, however, that it is also poorly construed as a panacea that would ameliorate the social malaise that has been orchestrated by it. Furthermore, although the delivery service of the perceived ill in the society could easily be pinned onto media, the sentiments of Dickey, English, Lewin and others are not directed at the media in general and the broadcasting in particular, but at firemen who, in a futuristic world, are not “firemen” without the ability “to do their own picking” to become intellectuals against the background of media manufactured importance placed on the instinct-driven syndromes.

A blend of media and technological advances has triggered a rapid transformation of the society. Indeed, media has taken a centre stage in the development of literacy, which manifests in the incessant publishing of magazines, newspapers, movies, videotapes, radio and television programs. The onslaught of media has softened the grip of civilization in the Orient; consequently, many societies could be categorised as post-literate. It is from this premise that literate citizens were prompted to bring “together the principles or factors of knowledge and wisdom instrumental in living successfully in the world and keeping in touch” and “in this practical sense making visible – enables the fundamental characteristics of human experience as concretisation become manifest in various fields of human enterprise, including commerce, through symbols” towards the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.