Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections

In a controversial essay in The Atlantic in 1967, “The Literature of Exhaustion,” then America’s leading writer and one of the pioneers of Postmodernism, John Barth (1930-), (somewhat ironically and even hypocritically) proffered that the conventional modes of literary representation have been “used...

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Main Author:	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English
Published:	2016
Subjects:	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature PS American literature
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/1/DELL%20symposium.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/2/52986_Quayum.pdf

id	iium-52986
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-529862017-01-10T00:45:43Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/ Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections Quayum, Mohammad Abdul PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature PS American literature In a controversial essay in The Atlantic in 1967, “The Literature of Exhaustion,” then America’s leading writer and one of the pioneers of Postmodernism, John Barth (1930-), (somewhat ironically and even hypocritically) proffered that the conventional modes of literary representation have been “used up” and their possibilities consumed through over use. The great preponderance of literature, he argued, belonged to the nineteenth century and its merits have become irrelevant to our generation. More recently, in an article in The New York Observer (June 22, 2010), “Where Have All the Mailers Gone?,” Lee Siegel, has affirmed that “fiction has become culturally irrelevant” in the twenty-first century. Do we have to agree with these cynics and dirge singers and believe that literature is dead? Has it become peripheral and extraneous to our present life? Or is literature still as important as it was, say, during the time of Homer, Aeschylus and Sophocles? This paper will investigate these issues and argue that literature is likely to outlive our current obsessions with technology, because of the many positive influences it has on us as human beings. No matter what the nay-sayers might say, so long as literature empowers our imagination, enriches our cultural traditions and provides a stay against the dehumanising effects of money and matter, it is here to stay; as long as it can inculcate the basic human values of fellowship, patience and love, extend the horizons of our minds and bring joy in our hearts, we will continue to honour, cherish and venerate literature as a form of knowledge that is essentially irreplaceable and indispensable. 2016-11-11 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/1/DELL%20symposium.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/2/52986_Quayum.pdf Quayum, Mohammad Abdul (2016) Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections. In: DELL Postgraduate Research Symposium 2016, 11th Nov. 2016, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature PS American literature
spellingShingle	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature PS American literature Quayum, Mohammad Abdul Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
description	In a controversial essay in The Atlantic in 1967, “The Literature of Exhaustion,” then America’s leading writer and one of the pioneers of Postmodernism, John Barth (1930-), (somewhat ironically and even hypocritically) proffered that the conventional modes of literary representation have been “used up” and their possibilities consumed through over use. The great preponderance of literature, he argued, belonged to the nineteenth century and its merits have become irrelevant to our generation. More recently, in an article in The New York Observer (June 22, 2010), “Where Have All the Mailers Gone?,” Lee Siegel, has affirmed that “fiction has become culturally irrelevant” in the twenty-first century. Do we have to agree with these cynics and dirge singers and believe that literature is dead? Has it become peripheral and extraneous to our present life? Or is literature still as important as it was, say, during the time of Homer, Aeschylus and Sophocles? This paper will investigate these issues and argue that literature is likely to outlive our current obsessions with technology, because of the many positive influences it has on us as human beings. No matter what the nay-sayers might say, so long as literature empowers our imagination, enriches our cultural traditions and provides a stay against the dehumanising effects of money and matter, it is here to stay; as long as it can inculcate the basic human values of fellowship, patience and love, extend the horizons of our minds and bring joy in our hearts, we will continue to honour, cherish and venerate literature as a form of knowledge that is essentially irreplaceable and indispensable.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_facet	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_sort	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
title	Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
title_short	Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
title_full	Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
title_fullStr	Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
title_full_unstemmed	Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
title_sort	valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections
publishDate	2016
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/1/DELL%20symposium.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/52986/2/52986_Quayum.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:15:01Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:15:01Z
_version_	1777411504964894720

Valorising literature in the age of technology: some personal reflections

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