It is a repository of folk wisdom, beliefs and superstitions. It keeps alive the quaintness of social
life. It is a treasure of any society.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Literature first of all, must be a living
one. It builds ideas and thoughts. It
strengthens character and instills discipline. To do so it must be understood
by the people down to the grassroots – not for entertainment alone but
enlightenment and realization of life’s meaning. Literature indeed is, for and by the people.
Famous Filipino
writers (left to right): Sedfrey Ordoñez, Ophelia A Dimalanta, Hortencia Santos
Sankore, Larry Francisco, and Jose Villa
·
Literature is a builder of leaders - literary
greats are leaders with the power of the pen, power of conviction with words,
charisma akin to the “singer, not the song.”
Or the “the master behind the masterpiece,” to whose name his work is
named after. (Shakespearean, Aristotelian, Darwinian). Leaders are looked up to,in building other leaders
as well, who continue the task, to carry on the torch and “guide the nation and
people through the night ‘til dawn,” in the epilogue of Rizal’s great works.
·
Literature is tested by time and change. It
is a refuge to the lost, away back home for a Prodigal Son. A lighthouse in a
stormy sea, birds signaling an island must be near somewhere. It is a breeze in
doldrums.
Literature
in changing times
We are being swept
by the currents of geometric progress.
We face a deluge of information that makes separating the grains from
the chaff more difficult, so to speak.
And how much more picking only the grains we need? Thus we are being led
deeper into a maze that takes us farther in our quest for truth.
With the multi-tasks magic palm-size electronic gadget we
call in different names like tablet, i-Pod, and smart phone, the world is now virtually
in our hand. Never have we been serious in analyzing William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence, which in part is
quoted as follows:
To see the world in a grain of sand.
And a heaven a
wild flower;
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,
And eternity
in an hour.
It is a world shrunk in time and space in one’s lifetime
and generation – because technology and affluence have overtaken us at the pace
of living we are used to.
Fortunately
we still trace Philosophy back to Socrates, idealism to Plato, Naturalism to
Aristotle. Weprecious independence from colonial rule in Rizal, emancipation of
slavery in Lincoln, militancy in women in Tandang Sora and Gabriela Silang, and
constitutional reform in the trilogy of the French Revolution -Egalite’, Liberte’ Fraternite’.
Around a bonfire we listen to Aesop, Homer, Scheherazade,
Grimm brothers, come alive in vernacular language and costumes. The lament in Shakespearean
tragedies, lilting laughter of Jose
flying a kite (Saranggola in Pepe),
the lyrical melodious pleading of kudiman
(Filipino love song), the dirge of pasyon
(Passion of Christ) – all these take us to a travelogue back to our roots, to
the keepers of that Temple which Rizal, Balagtas, Florentino, Reyes, et albuilt and guarded dutifully and
zealously.
Saranggola
ni Pepe, mural detail, AVR
Literature
and Media
But in today’s capitalism fueled by consumerism, we find
the art of literature besieged in a free market where profit is generally the lure
and rule. Literature is trapped in this huge market, and if it holds on merely
to its past– or just drifts aimlessly, then, we may lose its essence, and
therefore its treasure.
We must be vigilant to the preservation of literature as
the fine art, sensitive to ethics and morality as guide to human actions and
behavior, against such issues as pornography, euthanasia, graft and corruption,
and issues on the environment that threaten to destroy our living planet. We
must regard literatureas a powerful tool in preventing
war and keeping lasting peace and harmony in society, in keeping faith in our
institutions, and our relationship with our Creator, fellowmen, and Nature. It
is a travelogue toward the redemption of values and preserving it, indeed a
journey on a very rough road.
Commercialization of media has many undesirable
consequences to literature, shrouding our thinking and imagination, with the
border separating fantasy and reality being eroded. Many creatures are projected with untrue images;
while we protect the endangered species, media is making them enemies of
mankind – Anaconda, King
Kong, The Birds, Jaws rake profits generated by fear and
curiosity while leaving false impression especially to the young. Whole forests,
mountains and lakes are destroyed to flush out enemies and bad spirits, or to
appease a god of wrath.
Dr. Briana, Dr. Abe & Cecille Rotor, and Dr. Doria in a Radio Program
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Anchor Ka Mely Tenorio (seated)
But there are, in fact, more positive contributions of
literature and media in this aspect in the likes of Black Beauty, Babes, Fly Away Home,Free Willythat elevate human
consciousness towards understanding animals and other creatures often rising to
the level on moralism in Aesop’s fable, Kipling’s Jungle Book and George Orwell’s Animal
Farm.
New horizon of Literature
Literature rides on multimedia today, in a
horse-and-carriage relationship. With the conservative print and broadcast
journalism on one hand, and the computer and its state-of-the-art versions on
the other, the whole world today is “wired,” theoretically speaking.
But the role of each member in this analogy is not simple
and clear cut.Their shared domain is a complex one that needs a definition of
their boundaries. But the other school of thought is more of establishing a
synergistic relationship which means that morecan be gained through cooperation
and unity with humanity as the ultimate beneficiary.
This is crucial for the fact that millions of people are
bypassed by technology, education, healthcare and other basic necessities for
which reason riches particularly generated by computer technology are now
channeled philanthropically to the underprivileged.
If literature and media are to support this movement,
what could be their roles, and how can they join hands to reach the masses? We are gladdened,at the same time challenged,by
a number of developments such as the following:
·
Popularization of literature to the
understanding of the people. Noli the Musical,
translated Rizal’s masterpiece into entertainment education for the TV and
cinema. In like manner Oliver Twist’s musical version Oliver, Oliver reached as many people as
those who have read the novel.
·
The Great Books, among them Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peacenow have popular versions
for bigger audiences, following the footsteps of The Bible.
·
Publishing whether in print or electronic is no
longer a business monopoly, it can be done in home workshops, so with documentaries
and movies. With the computer one can be an author, publisher, critic,
marketer, rolled in one.
·
The combination of literary and technical forms,
with today’s technology, is bringing into our homes dramas of the living world,
reenactment of historical events, stories of the different cultures, and many
others. This made National Geographic,
Discovery, Historyand other TV series, very popular worldwide.
·
Scientific
discoveries have found literature a tool for dissemination outside of the
conventions of science. Titanic,
although more fiction than fact could not have been made without the discovery
of the ship’s wreckage at the bottom of the sea. An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film won for Al Gore, the
expert on environment and author, the prestigious Academy Award.
·
There are animations and cartoons in print or
onscreen that are gaining merits tobe classified as literature. Finding Nemo, Ice Age,Land Before Time,
Disney, Barney and Friends and Jim Jamseries are among the most popular of
this kind.
·
There are homilies, speeches, conference
proceedings, diaries which have literary qualities to be classified as pieces
of literature.
Columnist
and radio commentator Larry Henares (center with author and wife. Lower photo:
Teodoro “Doroy” Valencia (center) dean of Philippine journalism
·
The unquantifiable volume of Information has
generated waste, in fact pollution – infollution. This is exacerbated by social networking,
and continued increase of wireless technology tools and users.
·
Literacy rate may have increased but computer
literacy is but “coded literacy” which is not true knowledge. This leads us to the question what constitute
the genuineness of a work.
·
Neophytes and experts now play the same game
on the same playground with multimedia. Exclusivity of clubs, imprimatur of
quality granted by select groups, stringent criteria of evaluation, and the
like will have to undergo scrutiny and eventual innovation.
Outdoor
Literatur
If words, the beauty of words; if plot, the proper
organization of chapters; if characters and their superb acting make the story
alive; if advanced technology the provider of quality and magic – if these are
parameters of acceptance, without considering other factors, we may not be
exploring a new horizon of literature.
We shall miss the opportunity to face a brave new world of literature.
But we have to look back now and then to that temple
built by four great Filipinos and their kind.
The flickering light through its window gives us courage and comfort when
we see no star in the sky. Dawn is a child coming. ~
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