Effect of literature on society - Effect of society on literature. Which is stronger?

[YALASH]

Peace be on you. Effect of literature on society OR Effect of society on literature. Which is stronger? Are both equally strong?

[PeterL]

It is my opinion that literature in general has very little effect on society; although there are some examples of literature that has had effect on society. Literature is a reflection of society, so society has huge effects on literature. On the other hand, since literature is born from society, it might be that in those cases where it may appear that literature has had an effect on society it might actually be that society had an effect on itself that was simply reflected in the literature.

Consider The Communist Manifesto: did it nurture the revolutions of 1848, or did it simply reflect what the revolutionists were doing?

[jayat]

Read The decay of lying by Oscar Wilde. In a moment of the dialogue between Vivian and Cyril, the former says "it's no less true than life imitates arts more than the other way round". sorry, I'm translating and paraphrasing it. Read it when you can. Great analysis.

[Desolation]

As much as I love literature, it would be very difficult to argue that literature has had a larger impact on society than the other way around. Don't get me wrong, literature can and does affect society, but it's a part of a series of raindrops that go to make a wave; very rarely the wave itself.

[PeterL]

The comment that 'life imitates art' is a popular fallacy. It is just an amusing and ironic fast comeback; something to say when there is a strange coincidence.

[MorpheusSandman]

No doubt that society affects (really effects) literature more than the other way around. Society existed first, and literature came about in part to reflect that society.

[osho]

Society has great effects on literature, philosophy, or on any genres of art. Literature is born of social beliefs, thoughts, ideologies, and society is a great river and literature is a rivulet, a tributary and literature gets lots of materials, resources from society. With that said, society improves at times through its greatest minds and of course Gorky, Tolstoy, Dickens and then like had great impacts on their societies. Ayn Rand had some impact on American society and,thought and even on American politics. It is hard to pinpoint but it is society at large that gives birth to literature, art and music. For example, Communist societies were somewhat repressive and for instance Russia did not give great writers like Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Chekhov during the communistic regime. Shakespeare was patronized and getting the patronage of kings and emperors people could do creative persuasions. If writers have to make a living he will be compelled to give up on writing and if he or she is free to work without cares she can do more creative things.
Today we do not have literary giants the way we had in the past like Shakespeare and other great playwrights. Today literature has a commercial role. People do not care about literary standards or qualities and all they care about is commerce. They want to be bestsellers. Like Harry Potter. Who cares whether she was a literary giant or not. But her books earned her lots of fortunes and today she is one of the richest women in the world and she does not care whether critics are warm or cold towards her. She has so many readers and her books earned her both money and popularity and if she failed to get warm appreciations of a few lonesome critics she does not have to worry about it. If she does not reserve space in the narrow world of a few isolated rigid critics she does not care.

Therefore literature that can entertain people in society and if it can influence the way people think, live the book is successful to that extent and if the book is very great and philosophically more appealing and if they are liked by only a few lone some critics the objective of the book is not done.

[YALASH]

Thanks for answers.
1-Society is reflected in literature.
2-People read or watch (TV, internet) it.
3-Then at this stage the literature takes a leading role.
4-Is not it enormous role? which determine the course of nations. Up or down.

[osho]

In fact society and literature behave interactively and society is a combination of people,and both in different environments tend to direct each other. Literature is the mirror of society. In fact it is all about society. One can raise a question as to why there are poems that are written about nature. Nature is a subtle, nuanced form of society. Society is an abstract concept and it is the togetherness of people.

When we read fine minds we tend to follow, for example, Tolstoy's ideas tend to mold our patterns of thinking. Even in an organizational situation the bylaws of it can influence the way we think and act.

[YALASH]

.......Today we do not have literary giants the way we had in the past like Shakespeare and other great playwrights. Today literature has a commercial role. People do not care about literary standards or qualities and all they care about is commerce. They want to be bestsellers. .......

.......... literature can and does affect society, but it's a part of a series of raindrops that go to make a wave; very rarely the wave itself.

Currently, what kind of literature is in use by masses in the world?

[Aylinn]

Obviously, society has a far stronger influence on literature. It is very easy to spot. There are countries where polygamy is allowed, and in those countries polygamy appears in literature. In Europe, where polygamy is illegal, it doesn't appear in literature. It is simply very unlikely that a writer who has been brought up in Europe and has never had a direct contact with polygamous marriages will choose to write about them.

[OrphanPip]

Obviously, society has a far stronger influence on literature. It is very easy to spot. There are countries where polygamy is allowed, and in those countries polygamy appears in literature. In Europe, where polygamy is illegal, it doesn't appear in literature. It is simply very unlikely that a writer who has been brought up in Europe and has never had a direct contact with polygamous marriages will choose to write about them.

Well polygamy appears in the Bible, which is a foundational text of European culture, and polygamy is certainly within the normal frame of reference for Europeans. Certainly you wouldn't see polygamy depicted in most realists novel describing European society, but it probably pops up in European fantasy literature. The degree to which polygamy is allowed doesn't necessarily correspond to the degree which the public and artists are interested in it. After all, Big Love ran for 5 years on HBO, and it was a television show about polygamous Mormon family, despite polygamy being illegal in the USA and frowned upon by the vast majority of Americans (Mormons included).

The question of whether literature effects society is silly, because literature is society, it is one of the means by which humanity builds community. It is akin to asking whether the left hand effects the body.

[Babyguile]

It seems your effects should be affects. I'm paranoid because no-one has pointed that out yet.

Literature can affect society in the sense that a politician may have been inspired by a book they read in their formative years and that politican then went on to become an influential reformer. However, the social change in this instance was caused by policy or political ideology, not the literature itself.

I don't think literature has any direct influence on society on a meaningful scale. The problem is that reading remains a solitary activity, and readers tend to be introverted. This is a problem because, though I believe individuals can be affected by what they read (they may aspire to carry out the beliefs communicated through the actions of a character in a novel, or to further explore subjects explored within novels), if you look at recent history, most social change on a big scale has required movements and groups of people winning influence by attrition. If literature has any direct influence on society at all it usually manifests as crazes or fads that die out in a couple or years; moreover, such literature tends to be really bad because they need to sell to enough people. I'm thinking specificaly of the supposed rise in sales of BDSM praphenalia in the wake of Fifty Shades of Grey, and the shoot in growth of the vampire sub-culture following Twilight and its screen adaptations and spin-offs. Also think about Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

I personally adhere to the Victorian idea that art should serve to communicate truths and express things honestly and with moral purpose. Therefore I would like to see people reading more good literature. Popular culture nonsense really grates on me.

[Aylinn]

Well polygamy appears in the Bible, which is a foundational text of European culture, and polygamy is certainly within the normal frame of reference for Europeans.

While the Bible was/is a very important text that influenced European culture, it is not a exactly product of European culture, but of Ancient Near Eastern culture.

I think I didn't make it to clear. My point wasn't that Europeans have no knowledge about polygamous marriages or that writers would absolutely never write about them. Only that they are less likely to do so due to the lack of immediate experience.

[YALASH]

1- It is true that what is happening in countries, nations, areas, houses and streets and minds is mirrored in writings.

2- It is true too:
i-For believers, Revealed Divine Books are divine-literatures which initiate a theology, which in turn starts related new way of life.

ii-For scientists, proved-new-theories are scientific-literature which begin all new era of material advancement.

iii- Written literature in the form of Visuals (electronic media) is forming new era of awareness and consumer-ism too.

iv- Closing free information for citizens is fact. This is absence-of-literature. This lacking, too, enormously affects the people.

v- Checking what people are reading or watching is a fact too, it is clearly due to effective effect of literature.

There maybe more examples like that where literature shows its enormous initial power.

= >> Literature, society and effects have deep connections.