Evolution of Literature.

21st Century Literature defined by Cabradilla, Habaña, Tirol, Vitug.

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Evolution Of Literature

21st Century Literature, only having existed for a short amount of time, has already produced iconic literary works that greatly contribute to the said time period. Having said this, the authors of today have managed to break barriers and transform literature as a whole in a short amount of time due to the new age of writing styles, forms, and ideas. Literature right now has shifted from using traditional styles of writing into completely new, nonconformist, and flexible forms. This era really emphasized on more freedom for writers to think and express their ideas. In summary, the 21st Century Literature is all about being more spontaneous, more creative and more open-minded in order for writers to connect with a bigger crowd and expand their horizons.    

Literature is a body of written work that aims to convey certain ideas. It can be through scholarly research, poetry, drama, news, etc. Because of this nature, it is a reflection of values that society gives importance to during a given time period. People’s beliefs and ideas are translated through the literature they create, and this may change during each era. In this current generation, however, ideas that are significantly different from ones in the past have arrived, which reflect in literature. Because of this, 21st-century literature has become more flexible in terms of styles and structure according to the liking of people.

In the 21st century, literature liberates itself from the constructs of traditional forms and norms. In this era of literature, it provides a vast platform wherein creativity is fortified. It is a much more flexible and spontaneous era of literature. Writers are demanded to have the capacity to adapt to the taste of people, due to the rapid advancements of technology. According to research, it is better for writers to develop proficiency with the functions and use of technology. The 21st-century writers need to create collective write-ups, solutions, stories or articles in order to build relationships and connections with people across the world and not just in one area in order for their audience to maintain engagement with the kind of material they write. Much of the issues and ideas being fought for by this generation is about equality and justice for everyone, all articles and write-ups must be for everyone, in order to promote the change that is desired to be seen. The change being referred to here is a  change in beliefs, rituals, and actions.

In addition, children do not want to only read and look at pictures on books and on their cellphones and gadgets, they also want to be able to watch something that is related or similar to the stories they are reading. Thus, authors need to be creative enough to have good writing skills and to be able to create outputs that can be adapted into a video or movie in order for people to watch. This is why we can see movies that are connected to a book. For example, the Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter, Hunger Games and many more. A lot has changed due to the era of the 21st century, but these changes will make stories, articles, paper write-ups more interesting and appealing to the population.

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Before, Literature follows a strict set of rules. It deprives the writer to express their thoughts through it’s crooked walls. Now, like water, Literature is free-flowing, formless, and adaptable.

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In the past, literature has always sided towards justice and the patriarchy. Empowerment amongst genders is non-existent. However, literature in the 21st Century has changed a lot. It signifies as a call to action regarding the issues at hand to stand up against it.

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Literature adapts itself to the advancements of technology and to the liking of the audience. Before, literature was stuck in the form of words and brought to life by mere imagination of people. Nowadays, words are turned into movies and films and this is at par with the taste of people who want the stories that they read to be portrayed visually.

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Poetry in Motion

Poetry has been around for quite a long time. It has mesmerized readers by compensating in portraying a deep meaning even if the use of words is minimal.   In the 21st Century, poetry has changed, in the sense of the topics being tackled and techniques used to convey these.

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In this poem by Eavan Boland the author talks about the lost mythical city of Atlantis. In the author’s poem he begins with a sense of wonder on as to how a city could have suddenly disappeared underwater. Then the author relates it to the context of his city and describes features he remembers most. After all of these, the author then arrived to a conclusion on as to how the city of “Atlantis” disappeared. The author described that the so called city of Atlantis was just invented to help people empathise the sorrows of losing something forever and that there was no such thing as a city that disappeared underwater.

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Short Fiction: Fantasies of the Mind.

Short Fiction is products of imagination. It uses made-up characters, event and elements to integrate with real-life ideas and concepts. It may be made-up stories, but the lessons learned are forever true.

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Willful Creatures is a short fiction story which contains 15 different stories. In this book, these stories seem to come from all over the imagination of people. To cite a few, there are stories that talk about a pumpkin-headed family, a miniature man as a pet and many more. It it seems to be very weird but they all target to send out a sad truth. This collection overall aims to teach people sad truths and hard lessons in life that will not spark joy in your life but open your eyes to the reality that usually gets blinded from the normal person. What this means is that this collection can be done to teach people and open their eyes to the reality.

The imagery and symbolisms are very rich in this collection because the author was able to express a simple truth through stories that seem to be unimaginable. With these unique ideas, not only do they keep the readers entertained, but they also surprise their readers with a lesson that lets the reader see the story in a whole new perspective. This is an example of 21st century literature because it’s unique approach to the audience is eye-catching. In this time where people are now driven to solve problems or issues whether it be personal or social, this collection of stories is significantly relevant because it exposes the people to the sad truths and allows them to accept the fact that it exists. To add to this, this is significant in this century because it expresses the author’s take on these issues. With the use of multiple short stories to prove a bigger point, it defies the classic and traditional way of literature, which is to be straightforward and  hefty with the use of only one story to drive a point.

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In this story written by Deborah Eisenberg, it consists of six different unrelated short stories (Twilight of the Superheroes, Some Other Better Otto, Like it or not, Window, Revenge of the Dinosaurs and The flaw in the design) all of which takes place in the years following the events of September 11, 2001 or more commonly known as 9/11 where in terrorists crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center.

Although these stories never cross each other, the things they have in similar is that all of the characters in the different short stories experience a feeling of fear, loss and loneliness as they discover the growing threats of the civilized world. In this short story it goes beyond the linear method of telling a story where in a story follows a logical manner by telling what happens from one point in time to the next without using flashbacks or context. This short story however, is sophistically created wherein the reader would not fully understand the story if the reader does not know it’s context unlike traditional stories where in you could just read the story and then get what the author is trying to say. Also, this story is an embodiment of literature’s flexibility and how much it could change overtime. The story in itself is consisted of different stories which are independent from one another which allows the author to tell the event in different perspectives. This type of writing pushes the boundaries and creativity of each writer and allows the writer to explore and not be limited to a certain way of writing a story.

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Short Non-Fiction: Real Life Stories

Short Non-Fiction has evolved drastically over the years. It used to be always straight to the point and follows a set of formal rules. Now, events and news articles are conveyed in a creative way through feature articles and such.

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        The story analyzed, was basically about the drug war here in the Philippines. As we know, ever since Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines, he immediately established that his reign will be all about destroying drug addicts. This lead to different murder cases that deals with killings of innocent people. The Fifth Man by Patricia Evangelista was about the police shooting 5 people in the Payatas Village during a Tokhang operation. The story goes how the Police just drove to the 5 people and shot all of them, but the fifth man, Efren Morillo, was able to escape despite the gunshot to his lower chest. He was able to crawl away while the policemen were busy with other things. After a year of recovery, Efren filed a case against the Policemen, who committed direct assault to him and his peers.

The meaning of this story really is about the serious abuse of power by the government on killing people that uses drugs. Ever since the war on drugs started, murder cases of innocent victims rose from the ground. An example besides this story would be the murder Kian Delos Santos. Since The Fifth Man tackles the modern problem of the Philippines today, it makes it 21st Century Literature. The significance of this story to 21st Century Literature is that stories, articles and write-ups are mostly about the state of the country. 21st century Literature is the news in a country. TV shows like “Bente quatro oras” and the TV show of Jessica Soho, these are what 21st Literature is all about. The life stories, experiences and drama of everyone, make up the stories of today, and after, these stories will become stories in movies and TV shows.

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/188917-oplan-tokhang-efren-morillo-drug-war-payatas-quezon-city

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        The article was about the monstrous doings during the Martial Law Era. #NeverAgain: Martial Law stories young people need to hear, explained how the military people murdered, disrespected and objectified innocent people. The main objective of the paper is to give a lesson to all the millennials and generation Z people that they have to listen to the stories of the survivors of Martial Law.

These stories have to be told and shared among students and children in order for everyone to be aware of the past and so that it will not happen again. The article is part of the 21st century writing because the writer was spontaneous on how she delivered her message. She wrote about a lot of people and how they were captured, tortured and killed. The article she wrote did not give a story but explained to us the importance of being aware of what truly happened during the Marcos Era.

In addition, even though Martial Law happened years before, this article still is a 21st century write-up because of what is happening to the Philippines right now. For one Marawi is still in Martial Law for the rest of the year. Another is the Drug war, where numerous people are killed and how the Marcos family is still reigning in the Philippines since Marcoses are running again in the Government. In the end, Shakira Sison wants everyone who survived Martial Law to voice out their stories about their experiences and want younger children to acknowledge them, listen and learn from them.

www.rappler.com/views/imho/106827-martial-law-stories-hear

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Novelty of Novels

Novels nowadays use a lot of new techniques that break boundaries. It uses circular plot wherein it’s unpredictable. They offer a sense of mystery and excitement. 

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Ready Player One is about a guy named Wade Watts who lives in the year 2045. Wade like the rest of the population has access to the hyper-realistic video game paradise called, OASIS. The game acts as opium for a lot of people who wants to escape from their harsh reality. The creator of the game, James Halliday, made sure that his game was going to be inherited by the rightful person and so before he died he made a three-stage easter egg hunt and called all players to join. Wade was a big James Halliday fan, he knew everything about him and even knew how Halliday thinks, because of this he was the very first one to get the first key. Although it’s not only Wade that aimed to inherit and take over OASIS, there is also the IOI the villains of the story, who wants the OASIS because they want to monopolize it. The book ends with OASIS being in the good hands of Wade.

At the very beginning of the story, the harsh reality of the people in the future is drawn out. It was mentioned that the majority of the population were poor that lived in slums with houses on top of each other. The people were oppressed by Capitalists like the IOI, and these big companies force these people to work for them saying that they’re in debt. The reason on why people are so immersed in using the OASIS is because they want to escape their hardships and problems and the only thing that keeps them going is the hope that they win the Easter egg hunt in the OASIS. This portrayal in the book reflects the events in real-life that most of us in the world experience. A lot of people are exploited and manipulated  by capitalists that use these people to continue with their operations. Similar to Ready Player One the people in our world in the present also uses technology to distract them from their problems. Ernest Cline used his novel as a platform to tackle and portray this issue in the real world. He used the hero, Wade Watts to represent the majority of the population; he used him to inspire people on how one poor kid liberated himself from the villains and getting to the treasure by having pure intentions and being selfless. This also portrays youth empowerment in 21st Century. The novel reflected social issues, ideas and concepts that are seen in the 21st century.

The long fiction, Ready Player One also playfully uses the order of events to form the bigger picture. It uses a lot of flashbacks that traditional literature does not usually use. It also is contemporary in the sense that it shifts its characters perspectives from the OASIS to the real world and vice-versa from time to time. The restrictive linear type of plot from the traditional style is nonexistent in this one, instead, it uses a more mysterious approach that uses strategic flash forwards and flashbacks. Due to the many filling of blanks in the story the audience get the sense of wanting more from the book, they immerse themselves more into the story.  

The novel also got its movie adaptation back in 2018. It was directed by Steven Spielberg who in our opinion portrayed the story’s plot in the best way possible. The movie had its pros and cons, but overall it was criticized positively by critics online. The novel is one of the numerous literary works turned into movies. This is because people nowadays people want to vividly see the books that they’ve read, not only in their imaginations but also through films.

This book is one of the iconic literary works in the 21st-century, it encapsulates the mark of being a 21st-century work by having a free-flowing form of telling a story that reflected real-life issues  used creative techniques.