James Salter
In “Once Upon a Time, Literature. Now What?” published writer James Salter discusses the end of literature in today’s society. He says that's literature is losing it value and art and language are no longer appreciated. The new pop culture is taking over and the new movies and music no longer have any real meaning to them, it's just about success and making money. Value is something has been cast aside. There is no value in the word value anymore. The most important task in the world according to Salter is learning to speak. He says many things in this world would exist but would never be described without language. Written language is extremely important to him, as are books. Salter is frustrated that the spoken languages gets to live on,
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while the written language is struggling to be read. Literature isn't dead, it has just lost its importance. Salter argues many points about language and literature being the most important thing in the world and how it's losing its value but he doesn’t do so effectively. Salter tries to persuade his audience that the most important task in life is learning to speak.
He uses the fallacy oversimplification in the very beginning of his essay by stating that without language there is nothing, the world's beauty could not be described, feelings wouldnt be expressed, God and religion could not be discussed. He is using this fallacy to persuade us that we owe it to language for the ability to speak about these different things. Salter then argues the written languages is just as important and of all written literature, books are the most important. He talk about how the editor of a German fashion magazine named Erich Maria Remarque quit his job to write a novel and the issues of the magazine, the lunches and dinners and the models al have disappeared, but the novel is still read and matter. Language and literature are important to this world, but I do not agree they are the most important tasks in life. We need language to communicate to one another and literature helps educate us. But learning to take your first steps can be an important task as well. If you were deaf and could not speak, as an infant you would learn to communicate differently You wouldn't speak to learn common things in life such as when you need to go to the restroom, the right utensil to use when eating, how to brush your hair and have good hygeine. Salter says animals cannot speak, but they can still communicate with us. Dogs somehow communicate to us when they are hungry, need to use the restroom, want us to pet them. Speaking is important, but not everyone can speak to communicate to one
another. Salter tries to gain credibility by explaining that when he was a movie writer for fifteen years aside from a novel writer, all his best work ended up in the trash, proving that movies aren't about real art with value anymore, but just mere entertainment. His tone is angry when he say “Junk like George Lucas's "Star Wars" trilogy or quintet becomes the most consuming and widely discussed, sometimes in terms appropriate to masterworks, artistic endeavor.” He doesn't believe anything created in the popular culture is anywhere near real art. Salter uses false analogies to by asking, “Are we witnessing a mere collapse of taste or the actual genesis of a new myth worthy of replacing the outdated Trojan War or of standing beside it? As with the glorious stock boom, age-old standards of value are henceforth cast aside.” He believes literature is losing its place in the world. Literature with true art can’t grant you the success that is craved in this new world. With technology advancing so rapidly I do think literature, art, and history are slowly losing their place. Most movies are based off books, but a majority of people would rather wait to watch the movie than read the book. Watching a movie can take up about two hours of your time, while reading a book can take hours, days, or weeks. Literature takes time, but technology does not. Salter blames popular culture for the fall of literature by making a hasty generalization and suggesting, “The new populations will live in hives of concrete on a diet of film, television and the Internet. We are what we eat. We are also what we see and hear.” Because everything made in the new popular culture has no meaning to it, doesn't mean people live their lives with no meaning. Salter argues that those who are successful have no susceptibility to real art, any interest in history and are uninterested in language. Seeing how many novels have been made into movies, I don't agree that popular culture is the biggest threat to literature. It suggests many people enjoyed that book that from the amount of sales the idea came to make a movie. Literature has in a way shaped popular culture. There may be more people who rather watch a movie over reading a book. But Salter never describes what he counts as real art and literature. If people are only reading the bestseller, it still makes it literature.
while the written language is struggling to be read. Literature isn't dead, it has just lost its importance. Salter argues many points about language and literature being the most important thing in the world and how it's losing its value but he doesn’t do so effectively. Salter tries to persuade his audience that the most important task in life is learning to speak.
He uses the fallacy oversimplification in the very beginning of his essay by stating that without language there is nothing, the world's beauty could not be described, feelings wouldnt be expressed, God and religion could not be discussed. He is using this fallacy to persuade us that we owe it to language for the ability to speak about these different things. Salter then argues the written languages is just as important and of all written literature, books are the most important. He talk about how the editor of a German fashion magazine named Erich Maria Remarque quit his job to write a novel and the issues of the magazine, the lunches and dinners and the models al have disappeared, but the novel is still read and matter. Language and literature are important to this world, but I do not agree they are the most important tasks in life. We need language to communicate to one another and literature helps educate us. But learning to take your first steps can be an important task as well. If you were deaf and could not speak, as an infant you would learn to communicate differently You wouldn't speak to learn common things in life such as when you need to go to the restroom, the right utensil to use when eating, how to brush your hair and have good hygeine. Salter says animals cannot speak, but they can still communicate with us. Dogs somehow communicate to us when they are hungry, need to use the restroom, want us to pet them. Speaking is important, but not everyone can speak to communicate to one
another. Salter tries to gain credibility by explaining that when he was a movie writer for fifteen years aside from a novel writer, all his best work ended up in the trash, proving that movies aren't about real art with value anymore, but just mere entertainment. His tone is angry when he say “Junk like George Lucas's "Star Wars" trilogy or quintet becomes the most consuming and widely discussed, sometimes in terms appropriate to masterworks, artistic endeavor.” He doesn't believe anything created in the popular culture is anywhere near real art. Salter uses false analogies to by asking, “Are we witnessing a mere collapse of taste or the actual genesis of a new myth worthy of replacing the outdated Trojan War or of standing beside it? As with the glorious stock boom, age-old standards of value are henceforth cast aside.” He believes literature is losing its place in the world. Literature with true art can’t grant you the success that is craved in this new world. With technology advancing so rapidly I do think literature, art, and history are slowly losing their place. Most movies are based off books, but a majority of people would rather wait to watch the movie than read the book. Watching a movie can take up about two hours of your time, while reading a book can take hours, days, or weeks. Literature takes time, but technology does not. Salter blames popular culture for the fall of literature by making a hasty generalization and suggesting, “The new populations will live in hives of concrete on a diet of film, television and the Internet. We are what we eat. We are also what we see and hear.” Because everything made in the new popular culture has no meaning to it, doesn't mean people live their lives with no meaning. Salter argues that those who are successful have no susceptibility to real art, any interest in history and are uninterested in language. Seeing how many novels have been made into movies, I don't agree that popular culture is the biggest threat to literature. It suggests many people enjoyed that book that from the amount of sales the idea came to make a movie. Literature has in a way shaped popular culture. There may be more people who rather watch a movie over reading a book. But Salter never describes what he counts as real art and literature. If people are only reading the bestseller, it still makes it literature.