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Self reflection on defining literature

by Fiction14


As I stand, I realise how small our scope of world is. Everything we write is recycled, shaped changed, cut and integrated ultimately channeled from another source of literature. However much we write material or pieces that seemed unique, special or different from those around us, it has already been written and done before. Or we have already read it and seen it before and just unconsciously replicate it from our own perspective, which is also altered by these literatures. But that’s what literature is. An agglomeration of bits and piece, a reimagining of another story like Chinese whisper told and untold yet seemingly retold.

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1162 Reviews

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Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:01 am
Carlito wrote a review...



Hey! Welcome to YWS! :D
I'm here to bring this out of the green room for you!

I really like the ideas you're talking about here. You're completely right, everything is recycled and there really are no original ideas anymore. I like your use of language to convey your ideas about the topic. You did a nice job of getting your point across, while being concise and not saying the say thing over and over, while also having enough style to not make your ideas seem dry.

My only note is that it feels somewhat unfinished. When I got to the end of the paragraph, I felt like there should be several more paragraphs to discuss the topic and delve a little deeper into your ideas. I'm not sure if you were planning on turning this into a longer essay of sorts or if this was just a thought you had and you wanted to get it down. If it's the later, I don't want you to waste your precious points! If you're not looking for feedback on the writing itself and it's just an idea you want to put out there, that's a good thing to post on your wall or in one of the forums so people can discuss and you don't have to use any of your points.

Hope you stick around and enjoy the site! Let me know if you have any questions :D




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476 Reviews

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Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:24 am
Apricity wrote a review...



Hey Fiction14, Wisteria here for a review.

So you've given us an introspective snippet here, I'm not sure how much I can criticise due to its length but I would like to explore and discuss what you've written here. So the crux of this piece, can almost been summed up by an Oscar Wilde quote:

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
.

That literature itself are mere replicas of stories and more stories, and in many ways it's true I suppose. Yet it can also be argued that, many replications are not unconscious, many replications are replicated for the purpose of irony and then those replications are further deconstructed and reconstructed to form something new. There are arguably no original ideas under the sun, only original people who portray those ideas in different lights. Most literature share universal themes, love, death, war, peace, politics, etc and because literature is based off the reality and society we live in, in many ways it is like your simile of a Chinese whisper.

Honestly, I like what you've written here, partially because in many ways I hold the same view about literature. But, I think what would have made the piece more interesting is if you had brought in examples of literature and compare and contrast those. Give examples of where you've felt that stories are just replicas of each other, or where one novel seems to be the shadow of another even though you can't put a finger on what it is.

This is basically it, sorry I couldn't give any solid piece of advice. If you've got any questions about the review, feel free to message me or leave a comment. Keep writing!

-Wis





People with writer's blocks should get together and build a castle.
— Love