April 15, 2008
April 13, 2008
Web Paper
HyeRi Jung/ Professor Monje/ April 13, 2008
Impact of digital media on audiences: Its impact on decline of reading in America
The decline of American literature correlates with the invention of modern technology and digital media; radio, television, and computers dominate the American culture. Who doesn’t own at least one television in their house? Televisions in the classrooms are considered as a necessary tool in public schools. Most American houses have at least one computer. Classrooms without computers are considered as obsolete. Then where does that leave the written word? Before the great boom of digital media, reading was considered a highly regarded form of entertainment in America; bookshelves lined the walls of our homes and families were proud of themselves with collections of leather bound books. There were no televisions or Internet connections to make. Reading was a favorite pastime enjoyed by everyone before the advent of booming digital media. The world of modern digital media has killed American’s creative writing because there are too many distractions. The majority of Americans needs constant action from the electronic world to stay focused and to be kept in touch with friends and families. Literacy has taken a backseat to reality television shows such as “Survivor” and the “Net Top Model.” The best seller books become an academy award winning movies and modern authors lack the inspiration of great American authors such as Twain, Faulkner, and Steinbeck. Success is defined as the number one best seller, not by the quality of the work. America can no longer take active and engaged literacy for granted. As more Americans lose this capability, they become less informed, active, and independent minded. These are not the characteristics that a free, innovative, or productive society like the United States can afford to lose. As a matter of fact, the number of Americans reading literature is vastly declining. And the status of the Great American Novel is in great sake. Although American has a short period of history compared to Europe and Asia, it has always had a rich culture and literature. However, recently, the quality of American literature has been on the decline. Then what could have caused this disaster? According to the articles I found throughout my research, there are several substantial reasons to back up. Probably the vast choice of other forms of entertainment could be the biggest reason. Today, media audiences have television, movies, video games, and the Internet to be entertained, and they don’t want to actually sit down and read a novel at the end of the fast-paced-life-style-day. In addition, the emerging of popular fiction and the tough world of publishing are other reasons that have caused the tragedy of American literature of early 21st century.
American literature peaked about the late 1950’s with the Beat Generation writers and New Journalism, the last truly significant innovative styles of writing to be produced in the United States. This impressive wave of modern literature began to expand in the early 1800’s with Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe who put a voice and identity to what would be known as the “Great American Literature.” However, those great books are hard to find these days. “Even Oprah’s Book Club and the New York Times Bestseller lists have fewer lists than what they should have; in short, there isn’t the Great American Literature anymore” (Wyatt). I blame modern digital media for the most. And I am sure that it isn’t only me who think in this way. Yes, digital media offer a lot of conveniences, benefits, and jobs to modern people. Nevertheless, the very importance of reading and great novels shouldn’t be decreasing, or worse, be vanished; because reading affects every human being’s knowledge and the power of thinking, imagining, writing, speaking, and beyond everything else. As America expanded internationally preeminent traditions in literature, art, music, dance, theater, and cinema by the mid 20th century, a strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past few decades. While income rose to unforeseen levels, college attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously, the interest of young Americans showed in the arts, especially literature, actually diminished. “According to the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, a population study designed and commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts (and executed by the US Bureau of the Census), arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of the nine major forms that are measured. The declines have been most severe among younger adults, ages of 18 to 24. The most worrisome finding in the 2002 study, however, is the declining percentage of Americans, especially young adults, reading literature” (Davis). That individuals at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional development bypass the joys and challenges of literature is a troubling trend. The decline in reading has consequences that go beyond literature.
The results of highly interacting with intelligent society and culture lie in the kind of civic and historical knowledge that comes with literary reading. Unlike the passive activities of watching TV and DVDs or surfing the Web, reading is actually a highly active enterprise; reading requires sustained and focused attention as well as active use of memory and imagination. Literary reading also enhances and enlarges our humility by helping us imagine and understand lives quite different from our own. Literary reading is in dramatic decline with fewer than half of American adults now reading literature, according to a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) survey released today (Davis). Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America reports drops in all groups studied, with the steepest rate of decline – 28 percent – occurring in the youngest age groups. The study also documents an overall decline of 10 percentage points in literary readers from 1982 to 2002, representing a loss of 20 million potential readers. The rate of decline is increasing and, according to the survey, has nearly tripled in the last decade. The findings were announced in 2004 by National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Dana Gioia during a news conference at the New York Public Library. “This report documents a national crisis […] Reading develops a capacity for focused attention and imaginative growth that enriches both private and public life. The decline in reading among every segment of the adult population reflects a general collapse in advanced literacy. To lose this human capacity – and all the diverse benefits it fosters – impoverishes both cultural and civic life” (Davis). The overall rate of decline has accelerated from 5 to 14 percent since 1992. Women read more literature than men do, nevertheless, the survey indicates literary reading by both genders is declining; slightly more than one-third of adult males now read literature whereas reading among women is declining at a slower rate compared to males. Literary reading declined among whites, African Americans and Hispanics as well according to the survey. Among ethnic and racial groups surveyed, literary reading decreased most strongly among Hispanic Americans, dropping by 10 percentage points. By age, the three youngest groups saw the steepest drops, but literary reading declined among all age groups. The rate of decline for the youngest adults, those aged 18 to 24, was 55 percent greater than that of the total adult population. Reading also affects lifestyle, the study shows. Literary readers are much more likely to be involved in cultural, sports and volunteer activities than are non-readers. For example, literary readers are nearly three times as likely to attend a performing arts event, almost four times more likely to visit art museums, more than two-and-a-half times as likely to do volunteer or charity work, and over one-and-a-half times as likely to attend or participate in sports activities (Davis). (http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html).
People who read more books tend to have the highest level of participation in other activities. The most important factor in literacy reading rates is education, the report shows. Family income also affects the literary reading rate, though not as strongly as education. About one-third of the lowest income groups, those with family incomes under $10,000, read literature during the survey year. This is in comparison with 61 percent of the highest income groups that have family incomes of $75,000 or more. According to the survey, the most popular types of literature are novels or short stories, which were read by 45 percent or 93 million adults in the previous year. Moreover, the survey shows the correlation between literary reading and digital media; literature readers watched an average of 2.7 hours of television each day, while people who do not read literary works watched an average of 3.1 hours daily (Davis). “Adults who did not watch TV in a typical day are 48 percent more likely to be frequent readers than are those who watched one to three hours daily. ‘America can no longer take active and engaged literacy for granted,’ said Gioia. ‘As more Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, active, and independent minded. These are not qualities that a free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose. No single factor caused this problem. No single solution can solve it. But it cannot be ignored and must be addressed,’ Gioia said. Reading at Risk presents the results from the literature segment of the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted by the Census Bureau in 2002 at the NEA’s request. The survey asked more than 17,000 adults if they had read any novels, short stories, poetry or plays in their leisure time, that were not required for work or school during the previous 12months. The report interprets data on literary readings and compares them with results from similar surveys carried out in 1982 and 1992. Without a literary inheritance, the historical past of America is impoverished and weakened” (Gioia). Literature is a core influence for education and culture for everyone in the world. The evidence of literature’s importance to people, history, politics, and economic is too strong to ignore. The decline of literary reading foreshadows serious long-term social and economic problems, and it is time to bring literature and the other arts into discussions of public policy. Literature now competes with an enormous array of digital media. While no single activity is responsible for the decline in reading, the cumulative presence and availability of electronic alternatives increasingly have drawn Americans away from book shelves. Advanced literacy is a specific intellectual skill and social habit that depends on a great many educational, cultural, and economic factors.
(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/04/10/
why_literature_matters/).
America’s literary tradition began with the Puritans of New England. As I researched on great American novels and writers, I got to think that without a single doubt, Mark Twain was the first truly authentic American writer. http://updatecenter.britannica.com/eb/image?binaryId=96659&rendTypeId=4 Twain’s Midwestern humor and local color writing were aspects of a writing style that distinguished him from British writers for the first time. In a sense, he sets the standard and truly defines American literature. However, Twain is not the only great writer that America has produced; Edgar Alan Poe, the father of the short story, had horrified and thrilled his audiences, and his writing is still an inspiration to many modern horror writers. The twentieth century reached the height of American literature; it was dominated by brilliant writers like William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though it is young in comparison to other nations, America has a rich cultural and literary tradition. Unfortunately, the popularity and the quality of American literature have been on the decline in recent years. There are several reasons that caused the decline. First of all, the decline of reading in America is because that today we have so many entertainment choices: from music to television and movies, to video games and the internet. I personally have countless of books I would like to read, and yet I find myself constantly entertained by the television and the Internet. Nowadays, not only have the love of reading and the importance of reading slipped away from many of us, but sometimes our fast-paced lifestyles leave us exhausted. At the end of the day, reading a book and actually having to think about literature instead takes a back seat to watching a movie; with no effort to think at all on our part, all the sights and sounds of the story are right in front of us. Another reason that caused decline of reading in America is because of popular fictions. Today, some of our best selling authors are John Grisham, Stephen King, and Nicholas Sparks. These authors are talented and write a good story, but they are not classic novelists in the standard form of tradition. It does not take much thought or effort to read their stories. If we were to take and compare any two stories written by a popular fiction writer of today, in most cases the stories would not be all that different at the core. Along with the impact of digital media and popular fictions, the tough world of publishing also causes the decline of Great American Novel. Publishing world, like so many other entertainment industries, is a tough niche to succeed. The ability to write words that move people is one of the greatest gifts a person can have, and this ability has been somewhat devalued by our society over the past few decades mainly because of the emergence of digital media. I hope that people realize this reality soon and fight back against these causes so that people can have a revival of classical literature in America and elsewhere in the world. By doing so, we can create a rebirth of great literary work that we can all be proud of.
Reading is the foremost and the core important influence of human being. The decline of American literature correlates with the invention of modern technology and booming of digital media; radio, television, and computers dominate today’s American culture. What could have caused this disaster? The vast choice of other forms of entertainment could be the most crucial cause. With the emergence and boom of digital media in 21t century, media audiences are constantly entertained by television, video games, the Internet, etc. Although digital media, with no doubt, have helped global economy and our everyday life to be extremely easier to live compared to our older generations, digital media are also the biggest reason and impact of the decline of reading in America. However, I believe in hope that there would be a possible solution to all of these problems; a solution that consists all forms of digital media and still foster media audiences be entertained and enjoyed by reading books. In the end, it is our generation who are in charge of bettering the tragedy of American literature we have seen during the past decades. http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/images/to082205g.gif
Works Cited
Davis, Garrick. Literary Reading in Dramatic Decline, According to National Endowment for the Arts Survey. July 8, 2004. 28 Nov.2007
<http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html>.
Forman, Murray, Alison Hearn, and David P. Marshall. Media, Culture & Society.
Revised ed. Mason: Thomson, 2006.
Gioia, Dana. “Why literature matters: good books help make a civil society. The Boston Globe on the Web 10 April 2005. 1 Dec. 2007
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/04/10/
why_literature_matters/>.
Huntington, Sameul P. The clash of civilizations and the remaking of the world order.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
McDowell, Jeanne, and Jeffrey Ressner. “Brave New TV Land.” Time March 2007.
Trend, David. Reading Digital Culture. Malden: Blackwell, 2001.
Wyatt, Edward. “Author is kicked out of Oprah Winfrey’s book club.” New York Times on the Web 27 Jan. 2006. 29 Nov. 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/books/27oprah.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>.
April 5, 2008
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