LOSING THE CHANCE TO MARVEL, LOSING THE SENSATION OF LITERATURE
Long gone are the days when book reviews and discussion on contemporary literary trends would find prime space in newspapers like Dinman, Pradeep, Searchlight or in magazines like Maya, India Today, etc.
It is politics, crime, cinema, cricket and comedy which seem to be ruling the roost as newsmakers. This pattern is the averse of journalistic objectives of informing, educating and entertaining, since the current content is being churned as 'infotainment', the element of education seems to be gradually disappearing. Media as the voice of voiceless is in dire need of kindling the lamp of literature, to give the audience an opportunity to contextualise their current existence by encouraging the scope of literature in its many ramifications.
Dr. Medini Pd. Roy aptly rolls the functions of the media, as separating sound from noise in democracy and taking sound out of silence in an authoritarian regime. Literature can aid the media in fulfilling this purpose to the hilt, for it encompasses the power to rebel, to appreciate, to inform beyond what can be seen by the laymen.
There have been quite a few instances in the past, when a timeless work of art has affected the decision of a political system. After watching the renowned play JUSTICE by John Galsworthy, Churchill, the then Prime Minister of Britain changed the law of solitary confinement and what followed was an unforgettable revolution which brought happiness in the lives of many prisoners.
Literature doesn't simply work on the doctrine of 'Art for Art's sake', but serves the society while evoking the sound of 'Art for Life's sake'. This is the reason, G.B.Shaw said, "I would not face the toil of writing a single sentence for art's sake alone". Through different centuries authors have captured the contemporary trends of their times and left a treasure of culture to be unearthed through the pages of literary texts. Authors like Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare, John Milton, Aphra Behn, Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand and many others have wielded the power of influencing people, introducing the psyche of human nature and society to people.
But literary books have long faced the wrath of capitalism which is impinging upon the need of breaking sale records, and only then becoming capable of getting fair representation in mainstream media. At a recent release of the novel CHIRKUT by Hitendra Patel in JNU, the executive editor of India Today, Dilip C. Mandal said, "Make your work bestseller, I'll give you pages in my magazine". The remark is unfounded and highlights the negligence of even intellectuals regarding the plethora of books which are produced every year, disregarding the volumes of stories which they missing out.
In the current state, dailies like The Hindu run a weekly edition of 'Literary Review', Jansatta focuses on 'Pustakayan'. But this is not enough. To bring literature out of the dusty shelves of libraries, we need to give it a space which is read by people every day. Television producers must engage in creating niche programmes based on literary jewels instead of sticking to stereotypical formulae for earning TRP's.
- Jayant Jigyasu and Bhagyashree Sagar
(Published in the Lab Journal of IIMC)
Long gone are the days when book reviews and discussion on contemporary literary trends would find prime space in newspapers like Dinman, Pradeep, Searchlight or in magazines like Maya, India Today, etc.
It is politics, crime, cinema, cricket and comedy which seem to be ruling the roost as newsmakers. This pattern is the averse of journalistic objectives of informing, educating and entertaining, since the current content is being churned as 'infotainment', the element of education seems to be gradually disappearing. Media as the voice of voiceless is in dire need of kindling the lamp of literature, to give the audience an opportunity to contextualise their current existence by encouraging the scope of literature in its many ramifications.
Dr. Medini Pd. Roy aptly rolls the functions of the media, as separating sound from noise in democracy and taking sound out of silence in an authoritarian regime. Literature can aid the media in fulfilling this purpose to the hilt, for it encompasses the power to rebel, to appreciate, to inform beyond what can be seen by the laymen.
There have been quite a few instances in the past, when a timeless work of art has affected the decision of a political system. After watching the renowned play JUSTICE by John Galsworthy, Churchill, the then Prime Minister of Britain changed the law of solitary confinement and what followed was an unforgettable revolution which brought happiness in the lives of many prisoners.
Literature doesn't simply work on the doctrine of 'Art for Art's sake', but serves the society while evoking the sound of 'Art for Life's sake'. This is the reason, G.B.Shaw said, "I would not face the toil of writing a single sentence for art's sake alone". Through different centuries authors have captured the contemporary trends of their times and left a treasure of culture to be unearthed through the pages of literary texts. Authors like Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare, John Milton, Aphra Behn, Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand and many others have wielded the power of influencing people, introducing the psyche of human nature and society to people.
But literary books have long faced the wrath of capitalism which is impinging upon the need of breaking sale records, and only then becoming capable of getting fair representation in mainstream media. At a recent release of the novel CHIRKUT by Hitendra Patel in JNU, the executive editor of India Today, Dilip C. Mandal said, "Make your work bestseller, I'll give you pages in my magazine". The remark is unfounded and highlights the negligence of even intellectuals regarding the plethora of books which are produced every year, disregarding the volumes of stories which they missing out.
In the current state, dailies like The Hindu run a weekly edition of 'Literary Review', Jansatta focuses on 'Pustakayan'. But this is not enough. To bring literature out of the dusty shelves of libraries, we need to give it a space which is read by people every day. Television producers must engage in creating niche programmes based on literary jewels instead of sticking to stereotypical formulae for earning TRP's.
- Jayant Jigyasu and Bhagyashree Sagar
(Published in the Lab Journal of IIMC)
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