One flies high because of magic and the other flies high because of chemical substances. In both cases, the point is similar, getting away from reality. I'm talking of two valuable pieces of literature: "The spatter of later stars" by Nina Kriki Hoffman and "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" by The Beatles (McCartney).
These readings may lead us to ask ourselves some questions: Why is the human being interested in escaping reality? Why are there so many ways of alienation? Is that what makes us human, imagination, that capacity of abstraction?
We see how literature, as a reflection of reality and culture, touches human's inner problems and circumstances.
Both texts allow us to see referents in reality. However, it is the reader the one that will decide what to do with the info. provided by the texts. In the case of the short story, there seems to be a clear message of good and evil, what we should do and the consequences of our deeds. The song, on the other side, presents a social reality as one of the many human manifestations of a decade, take it or leave it appears to be the hidden message of the song but if you took it, you would for sure go away from reality.
Alienation is then another piece of this puzzle of these contemporary topics. If you don't believe me, ask techoaddicts.
These readings may lead us to ask ourselves some questions: Why is the human being interested in escaping reality? Why are there so many ways of alienation? Is that what makes us human, imagination, that capacity of abstraction?
We see how literature, as a reflection of reality and culture, touches human's inner problems and circumstances.
Both texts allow us to see referents in reality. However, it is the reader the one that will decide what to do with the info. provided by the texts. In the case of the short story, there seems to be a clear message of good and evil, what we should do and the consequences of our deeds. The song, on the other side, presents a social reality as one of the many human manifestations of a decade, take it or leave it appears to be the hidden message of the song but if you took it, you would for sure go away from reality.
Alienation is then another piece of this puzzle of these contemporary topics. If you don't believe me, ask techoaddicts.
2 comentarios:
Well done, Maria Teresa!
Yeah, the topic of alienation is being addressed by rock musicians like forever since the 1950s. Who hasn't felt as an outsider at some point in their lives?
Other good songs to explore the loneliness/alienation issue are:
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Tony Bennett)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day, not the same as Bennett's)
American Idiot (Green Day)
Losing my religion (REM)
Smells like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
Working Class Hero (John Lennon)
and so on and on...
Forgive my passion for rock, but all of you guys got it right: lyrics are as good as any other literary text to discuss personal and social issues. Go figure, check troubadours like Bob Dylan, or Bob Marley, for example, you'll find fascinating topics to talk about. Cheers!
Hi, María Teresa!
Hope everything's ok.
I certainly like one of the questions you ask on your post "Is that what makes us human, imagination, that capacity of abstraction?" because it leads us to the very core of all study of literary expression: what reality do people portray through literature? What is, in fact, reaility? Reality seems to be an abstract construct already, an idea of things in the surrounding universe. Threfore, all language use would be an attempt to represent reality, again, the notion we have about everything. I think it is no longer safe to conceive reality as the 'concrete, material nature of things' since such things would not exist to us without the mediation of language, both as a cognitive ability and as an interactive tool.
All language in use serves the purpose of creating a picture of reality, that is, a portrayal of our perceptions of things; this is why comparisons in the fashion of 'X is more real than Y' become far-fetched and absolutely detached from the authentic nature and order of things. Literary expression as an aesthetic means to convey the ideas people have on everything will, in all cases, contribute to the creation of a wider -not more concrete or objective- picture of the world, assuming that one of the main goals of studying literature is to attain a deeper understanding of the ways of people through the analysis of their literary expression: the bigger the sample of literature we are in contact with, the more comprehensive our idea of things -our notion of reality- will be.
Hugs!
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