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Writing Photography Past Projects Interact Artists |
How Can
Literary Studies Survive In his article “The Decline and Fall of Literature”,
Andrew Delbanco examines the status of the
humanities, especially literary studies, in universities. He cites university English departments as
one of the most significant causes of their own deflated status, yet offers
no plan to overcome the mistakes which have led to this downfall. Delbanco does,
however bring attention to the issue which begs to be resolved: lack of
interest by students, media, and the general populace. What needs to be addressed, then, is
finding the place to which all of this missing interest has been directed. Delbanco’s suggestion that
English studies will regain student and cultural interest “when English
professors recommit themselves to slaking the human craving for contact with
works of art that somehow register one’s own longing and yet exceed what one
has been able to articulate by and for oneself” (38) is vague and
unsupported. English professors must
address the interests of the students attending their universities and fit
their curriculum to the needs and modes of the undergraduate and graduate
students which they might teach. Where has all of the interest gone? Science and technology, especially
engineering and computer sciences.
Fields like Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Graphic Design, and
the newly created and highly ambiguous “Information Technology” have seen
spikes in employee and student numbers over the last thirty years. The key to bringing these students and
their money back to the arts lies in creating a curriculum appealing to them. The internet and computer media have changed the way
people find and view art. Textual
expression is no longer the arrangement of letters and words on paper; it is
now “hyperactive,” containing linked, flashing, and scrolling elements. People who would be published can now post
their artwork for free at thousands of different sites. Comic publishing has even moved to the web,
and several artists have been able to support themselves wholly on
merchandise sales and donations generated from their webcomics. Even drawing, inking, and coloring have
moved from paper to computer. Several
comic artists have made tutorials on or videotapes of themselves creating
their strips on the computer. A staff writer from The
Sacramento Bee recently interviewed several of the most popular webcomic authors.
When he asked them about why they choose to use the internet to
publish, they cite reasons such as “direct
interaction with . . . [an] audience as well as the thematic freedom that the
Internet allows” (Hoeger). “Publishing a
comic on the Web also allows for unorthodox working arrangements” (Hoeger) like those of Ian McConville and Matt Boyd, creators of the popular college
life-themed MacHall,
who “have been producing comics together for more than two years but live in
separate states and have only met in person twice.” University art departments should shift at least some focus to creating art in a contemporary environment, offering classes on flash animation, internet publishing, computer illustration, and “hypertext”. Art has moved beyond books and museums; it’s time for the scholars and the literati to approach art in its modern form. Works Cited Delbanco, Andrew. “The Decline and Fall of Literature.” New York Review of Books. 46.17 (4 November 1999): 32-8. Julie Keenan. ENGL301 Course Materials. Course Materials, University of Maryland, Spring 2003. Hoeger, Justin. “Virtual Hilarity.” The
Sacramento Bee 2 May 2003. 2 May
2003 <http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/story/6553413p-7503668c.html>. top – discuss – essays
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All original material © 2003 Erika
Salomon.
