Is Literature Obsolete?

jerenaugrim

Just wondering if anyone thinks there's any place for serious writing any more. The bestseller lists are full of various genres- chick-lit, fantasy, etc.- which is fair enough, I have no problem with that. But is there any chance of anyone making a living as a serious writer without crawling to the Arts Council?

echomadman

Maybe your definition of literature is obsolete?

The best-sellers list is hardly a place to look for it anyway, by definition if its that popular it's rarely going to be very highbrow.

dod

Is Beethoven stale? I haven't seen him in the top 10 charts recently...

Has the 1945 Chateau Petrus suddenly become undrinkable? I've asked them time and again, and they just won't stock it in my local SuperValu...

Is the Rattan plant suddenly extinct? I've asked the garden centre to accomodate me, as I think it would look well next to my back garden bar-b-q, but he just shakes his head sadly at me...

Literature obsolete? Let's be serious.

jerenaugrim

But isn't the popularity of something a basic indicator of its relevance?

dudara

I think that in this day and age, the popularity of something is more an idicator of it fashionability and perhaps by default uselessness. Ie Westlife, chick-lit, etc

CuLT

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
But isn't the popularity of something a basic indicator of its relevance?

War isn't very popular. It's extremely relevant though.

Oprah is very popular. It's also totally irrelevant.


mind the language or you will have the honour of being the first person ever banned from the literature board

Cake Fiend

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
But isn't the popularity of something a basic indicator of its relevance?

Only if you're willing to let other people decide for you what you should read/listen to/eat/whatever.

Bear in mind how mindless and stupid your average member of the public is. Logically, up to 50% of people are of even lower intelligence :eek: - are you going to trust these people with your tastes?

secret_squirrel

Correct me if Im wrong but isnt/wasnt a great deal of 'literature' only so designated long after it was first published???
Therefore my answer would be its a bit early to tell

And given sico's comments perhaps the problem is that the chosen few who designate what is and is not literature have become too elitist for their own good?

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
JBut is there any chance of anyone making a living as a serious writer without crawling to the Arts Council?

Was there ever ?
Picasso was famous for being the first painter who became seriously rich. Usually it's posthumous fame.
If you want sales go for the lowest common denominator - when was the last time you saw queues at an Art Movie after the first week on the main screen.

Cake Fiend

My comments may be flippant and arrogant, but is there no truth in them?
Or maybe we should let the same people who make Britney Spears and Jean-Claude Van Damme rich superstars decide what is worthy of attention in the literature world...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

what's the worst that could happen.. we'd get alot more plasic books that were easy to read in the bath

jerenaugrim

The likes of Dickens and Dostoyevsky were hugely popular in their day...maybe what I was trying to ask was, to achieve the same as them, should a writer write novels, or screenplays, or even, say soap operas?

CuLT

Originally posted by Mordeth
what's the worst that could happen.. we'd get alot more plasic books that were easy to read in the bath

Man they rocked.

simu

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
The likes of Dickens and Dostoyevsky were hugely popular in their day...maybe what I was trying to ask was, to achieve the same as them, should a writer write novels, or screenplays, or even, say soap operas?

Given the incease in the world's population and higher standards of education, you have more ppl reading literature nowadays than ever before. Unfortunately, there are far more people again who only read whatever rubbish they see promoted on TV.
I remember some writer consoling himself with the thought that Aristotle and the like didn't have a huge audience in their time either but that that didn't take away from the quality of their work.

GuanYin

Originally posted by simu
Given the incease in the world's population and higher standards of education, you have more ppl reading literature nowadays than ever before. Unfortunately, there are far more people again who only read whatever rubbish they see promoted on TV.
I remember some writer consoling himself with the thought that Aristotle and the like didn't have a huge audience in their time either but that that didn't take away from the quality of their work.

I think amazon has helped.

One of the big issues I have with literature is that many publications are not afforale to the average person.

Its is a sorry state of affairs when a new release is a luxury. More money to the libraries I say.

simu

Originally posted by syke
I think amazon has helped.

One of the big issues I have with literature is that many publications are not afforale to the average person.

Its is a sorry state of affairs when a new release is a luxury. More money to the libraries I say.

The average person in Ireland doesn't seem to mind forking out money for magazines, DVDs and satellite TV, though.

I do agree, however, that books can be expensive and that many Irish libraries could do with more resources.

Krusty_Clown

Speaking of libraries, I typically buy about 3/4 books a month, and haven't been to a library since I was 12 years old.. What are they like now? The comments would suggest they are under-funded.. But do people still use them?

Have they moved into the modern age of online accounts, DVDs, SACDs, etc., or are they still a tribute to times past?

DriftingRain

But isn't the popularity of something a basic indicator of its relevance?

To put this lightly.. A book becomes classic. At the time the writer is writing it...he/she never knows wether it's to be a classic or not. So at the question...

But is there any chance of anyone making a living as a serious writer without crawling to the Arts Council?

I believe so. Most writers don't live like kings and queens anyhow.


Good Luck

~DR~

The Beer Baron

My comments may be flippant and arrogant, but is there no truth in them?

Seems a pretty fair, accurate and insightful appraisal of society to me Sico.

sue123

Speaking of libraries, I typically buy about 3/4 books a month, and haven't been to a library since I was 12 years old.. What are they like now?

Actually they're not too bad, they've all embrassed technology and they have link ups to all other libraries, so if they don't have a book your looking for you can search to see if another branch has it.

I don't think that literature is obsolete I think the problem is that the readers are!

McGinty

Personally, if you want to write a work of literature with the sole aim of making a fortune I don't think it will happen. I beleive most authors write because they have a need to write, and the particular story they share with readers is a tale they needed to tell.

I think there are some good writers in the best sellers list. For example Anita Shreve is an excellent writer, she can convey so much in so few words and what she writes is very powerful. At the moment there is a book on the best sellers which discusses the lack of puncutaiton and grammer, so I don't think all best sellers are mindless drivel. Besides, it's sometimes really nice to read something light and fluffy without having to tax the brain too much. A reader want's to be entertained and sometimes a reader wants to read a piece of literature. I believe we have both at the moment.

jerenaugrim

Can u recommend an Anita Shreve novel, McGinty?

simu

I think it's good that the Arts Council gives support to writers and that more funding should be given to this. People are for the most part sceptical about the idea of giving money to writers as the benefits are not immediately obvious but having met ppl who work as resident writers at uni, I think it's mostly worthwhile. Wouldn't it be great if they had resident writers in towns across Ireland who, along with writing, would have workshops in local shcools the odd time and readings and so on in community centers?

jerenaugrim

Writers shd write, not compromise themselves by taking residencies and doing workshops.

Klaus

actuallv there are a number of writers in residence in towns around the country. sligo has one, and I'm sure I've heard of others. They do local workshops and so on.

also don't place too much emphasis on the best sellers lists, the books that mkae alot of money are the ones that keep selling years after they're published.

simu

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
Writers shd write, not compromise themselves by taking residencies and doing workshops.

Writing is what resident writers spend most of their time doing! Maybe not every writer likes giving workshops and so on but I know writers who enjoy it very much. I don't see how spending an hour here and there talking to others about writing is compromising one status as a writer.

jerenaugrim

The compromise is (potentially) in taking public money. I think it can breed a kind of lapdog mentality, when one eye is kept on not jeopradising the next grant opportunity.

simu

Originally posted by jerenaugrim
The compromise is (potentially) in taking public money. I think it can breed a kind of lapdog mentality, when one eye is kept on not jeopradising the next grant opportunity.

Not if the public condered it important to fund artists the way they do medical personnel and so on. If these oppourtunites were more plentiful, writers wouldn't have to do the lapdog act - to be honest, I haven't seen this happening in the case of resident writers I've come in contact with. On the contrary, it allows people who only had the chance to write after a normal day's work before to devote themselves completely to their creative work.

Paddy20

Literature is part of life. As long as life exists, so shall literature.

P. :ninja: