The 'dumbing down' of literature is where standards of writing, over time, drop. With internet technology becoming more and more commonplace worldwide, will literature continue to suffer? Or is literature really even in such a tough spot?
I feel that there are two opposing forces at stake. On one side of this equation, you have talented and gifted writers, professional or not, creating works to be spread online. While content may very, the time and energy spent reflect words written with care and meaning. On the other side, being able to write something and post it online is no longer a financially difficult task. This very blog was free to create. These two forces push literary quality up and down, as different populations gain different skills.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of literature viewed is commercial advertisements. People read many books, but see far more ads or spots on tv. To capture the greatest market segment, advertisers create literature that more than half can understand. Since it is impossible to make an ad too simple to understand ( I certainly hope so, at least) the average literary quality of an ad is lower than the average of all literature. Essentially, market forces are dumbing us down. I can't shake the images shown in Wall-E, a recent Pixar movie.
I don't believe literature is doomed, however. I do think that our standards of quality will change over time. What was good becomes great. What would have been drivel is instead genius. Reading is always a good thing, but maybe too much of it is hurting us all.
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I found Ricky's question to be very thought-provoking, particularly because it is a question that is entirely relevant to our generation. A lot of what we see today does seem "dumbed-down," yet I also wonder if this is because if the percentage of illiterate people living in America. Is literature dumbed down, as Ricky pointed out, or are Americans just less likely to have an ability to read or understand complex ideas?
ReplyDeleteI liked your question, I found it really interesting. You also had a good point about ads being seen more than books, but you sort of lost me when you compared television ads and books, being that although like you said we see television ads more than books we do not tend to read those ads, maybe if you used magazine ads instead it could have made a little more sense?
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed your ideas. It was similar along the lines of the ideas I was also pondering in my post, but unfortunately was scowled for. The question and ideas refer to the current life of literature with the digital world embarking on it. I think we should be more concerned with the future of literature our culture, and especially our generation, moves farther and farther into a digitized world. In response to the first comment, I dont think we should be putting the label 'dumbed down' on literature, I just believe that the form of literature is changing all together because our society does not necessarily need to read and understand complex ideas, when they actually could be made simpler.
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