Assertions of Generational Appreciation of Text

Written in 2010. :) I always welcome anyone to disagree and discuss my views with me, if they feel so compelled.

An interesting topic of discussion was begun in one of my classes this week that has caused me to meditate extensively upon the subject. The following are my thoughts; feel free to interject with your own comments, ideas, etc.

 

Is the presence of electronically based text threatening/crippling or otherwise maiming the value and relevance of printed text? In short, is the ability for us to seek out information and passages on the internet or to type up works using electronic programs devaluing the process of writing or of reading text?

 

My initial response is no, it isn’t. Despite the method of the transversal of the creative process from mentally conceived idea to something accessible by others, the process is the same. My professor argued that he still was smitten with the romance of holding a book in his hands and reading them and owning them. I can only agree, I feel the exact same way. But I believe this nearly sentimental attachment to printed books and texts is a generational condition, something that is devolving from younger generations who process text differently and prefer electronic medium to written medium. Evidence of this is prevalent in people who raise their children in a very electronically restrictive environment, like another professor I have, and how those children prefer written text and printed books as well. It is an issue of nurturing, not nature, that is made obsolete by future generations who are thoroughly baptized in the modern methods of writing and reading text.

 

I’m somewhat taken aback that the actual creative process is attacked by this statement, being an author myself. To say that writing things electronically devalues the creative product is absurd. If anything, it enhances this process. The internal process of transferring a mental imaginative concept onto a medium is the same, no matter what the medium may be. To say that hand written text is superior is to say that the actual act of writing it is where the creative process becomes solidified. I cannot agree with this. The creative process, as I have experienced, is an internally derived realization and creation. Only in the mind can these things become solidified and truly created, because it is where they are first conceived. The method of moving those ideas and creations to a medium that is accessible to you and to others is irrelevant. Anyone can write words on paper. Anyone can type a document in Microsoft Word. But if the mental creative process of realization and fabrication is flawed, then it doesn’t matter how that material is written, it will still be flawed.

 

For another example, take for instance someone who isn’t particularly gifted in drawing but has the image of a beautiful and perfectly original picture in his or her head. If they attempt to draw this image by hand, it will not look at all like they imagined and will be subject to derogative comment by others. But perhaps this same person is exceedingly gifted in sculpting and so seeks to create that same image in that medium. It is an entirely different medium than drawing on paper, but can we say it is false or flawed because it is different, even if it is still true to what the artist had envisioned in their head? Who are we to decide that an artist’s medium is inappropriate, if the product is beautiful and true to the artist’s internal vision? This is my argument against the assertion my professor made, feel free to interject your own opinions.

Author's Note

Content not edited. Comments are appreciated! :)

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

My daughter had not wrote a paper since second grade. The skill of writing into books or on a sheet of paper is lost. I wish the school system require more reading. I read 500 stories and poem weekly on four sites. My mind is working because of this even with mistreatment from life and Army. I believe must be a middle point for use of computer. Kids need to know how to research with books and computer. Life is very hard. I use the computer for all things at work. But I must be able to read and give direction. You open a interesting topic. Thank you for your thoughts and ideas.
Coyote