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Impact of literature on culture
Historical influences on literature
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“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it” (C. S. Lewis). If one were to mention the title Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, most people would be familiar with the name. Traditional pieces of literature have been around for decades, and still live on, although perhaps in a different form. The heart of these classics, such as Moby Dick and The Tell-Tale Heart, still linger deep within the ambience of the the movies people see, the shows they watch on television, and the books they read today. Traditional literature from the 1700s and 1800s have a large influence on modern films, television shows and literature.
First, traditional literature has influenced modern day films. Many films people see in theatres today are based on literature, no matter how greatly or loosely they are adapted. An example of this would be Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables. Les Mis...
Sometimes in movie production a film is developed from a piece of literature. Directors will use the plot of a book either to create a unique movie, or to give the audience a chance to see what their favorite book is like when acted out on the screen. Willa Cather's "Paul's Case" is a good example of a work adapted to video. The movie has slight differences from the book, but the director Lamont Johnson follows the original closely.
Reprinted in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia Eds. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1995. Glaspell, Susan. A. Trifles. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers.
The world of English Literature captures the minds of millions of people worldwide. The stories that are read are new and old and continue to capture the attention of people even to this day. Each piece of literature can go in-depth into settings, themes, characterizations, have great styles and the thing most people enjoy... conflict. Most people don't understand or see the messages these pieces may have in them. Hidden sometimes within complex statements or meanings that the everyday person might not recollect. These "treasures" are waiting to be found and are gold waiting to be found.
Literature; it has compelled us, entertained us, educated us, and drove us to madness. It has served as life instruction, by using the characters as the lesson plan. It is sometimes blunt, sometimes ugly, and in Truman Capote’s case, is so gruesome that we do not dare forget it.
Schilb, John, and John Clifford, eds. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 866. Print.
An example of literature is brought up, where for no apparent reason the historical novel became a popular genre and everyone was reading and writing them despite the fact that the genre had been around for a very long time. He used this example to give a concrete example if his idea, and it appeals to the audience’s
I frankly confess that I have, as a general thing, but little enjoyment of it, and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form. . . . But it is apt to spoil two good things – a story and a moral, a meaning and a form; and the taste for it is responsible for a large part of the forcible-feeding writing that has been inflicted upon the world. The only cases in whi...
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
'Once upon a time' is undoubtedly the traditional way to start a story, likewise how “happily ever after” generically finishes one. However, I have found that my interest lies between these lines, watching how a story emotionally engages a reader. Literature enhances reality, embarking readers on a personal journey where we genuinely talk to the characters, feel the setting, and believe the narrator. It feels so real that we let ourselves get lost within it. It was my extensive reading into both my A-level material and classics like Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers’ that sparked my desire to develop these ideas further at university and enhance my writing ability.
Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.
Literature that was published in the 1800s in Germany is still used as a basis, or can be, for modern movies. I found this to be true when comparing Faust to the movie “Bedazzled.” Faust is a Romantic story that encompasses the Romantic movement to the fullest. “Bedazzled,” while encompassing many of these characteristics, has characteristics of the enlightenment, modernism, and postmodernism. Society’s character at the time of production of each storyline plays a huge role in how the story plays out. We can see this in how each desire is portrayed, how good and evil are portrayed, and how each hero gets themselves into their situation.
When the word “fairytale” is mentioned, nearly everyone thinks of light-hearted stories with friendly characters and happy endings. However, these are not the ideas that classic fairytales originally sparked. In fact, numerous modern Disney movies were based off stories that were not so sugar coated. In the 19th century, the Brothers Grimm were responsible for multiple of these popular children’s tales. The Disney remakes of classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Tangled, and Snow White exclude the dark, twisted themes that are significant in the Brothers Grimm fairytales, because society tendencies continue to evolve toward sheltering and overprotecting young children.
The first chapter of George Bluestone’s book Novels into Film starts to point out the basic differences that exist between the written word and the visual picture. It is in the chapter "Limits of the Novel and Limits of the Film," that Bluestone attempts to theorize on the things that shape the movie/film from a work of literature. Film and literature appear to share so much, but in the process of changing a work into film, he states important changes are unavoidable. It is the reasoning behind these changes that Bluestone directs his focus, which is the basis behind the change. He starts to look at the nature of film and literature, as a crucial part in the breakdown of this problem. It is only through a discussion into nature of each of these, that Bluestone can discover where film and literature seperate, and also develop a close to accurate theory on the laws that direct the course of change from novel to film.
It is common in today's media-driven society to reach into the past for inspiration and ideas. A trend has developed where original works are transformed into other mediums. For example: books are turned into movies and/or plays, movies are turned into weekly sitcoms, and cartoons will spawn empires (Disney). These things happen so often that an audience rarely stops to question the level of authenticity that remains after these conversions. Perhaps it is only when a project is not well received that people begin to think of the difficulties involved with changing a work's genre. Using Gulliver's Travels as an example, discrepancies and additions in the movie can be contrasted with Jonathan Swift's original text.
Throughout history, the art of storytelling has been an imperative tool for an array of purposes. Humans have utilized storytelling for nearly everything, such as passing down traditions or just pure entertainment. Storytelling in its most basic form is something that humans need, as they give everyone a sense of everything it means to be human. However, along the path of humanity’s development and growth, stories themselves and the way they are told also seemed to change. With humanity's innovation and push toward new technologies, narratives were then passed along in a variety of forms, spanning from novels and radio to film and television. Although the push for new technologies has provided a stellar platform for different stories to find