On Contemporary Literature
When I hear the words contemporary literature, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is the total opposite of Classic Literature also known as the canons. With this, it is of importance to know first what Classic Literature is all about in order for me to set the comparison. As I understood it, Classic Literature refers to works of literature that withstand the test of time. Furthermore, in order for it to enjoy lasting recognition, it must have been written in the distant past such as the ones written by Greeks and Romans during the ancient times. There are also works of literature that qualify as classic for the reason that they are acknowledged as great works that touched readers’ feelings and sensibilities from all walks of life.
On the other hand, contemporary literature is the opposite of the established definition of classic literature discussed above. For one, it is written in the contemporary, modern or recent age which is commonly believed to be the era after World War II or the late 18th century up to the present. Second, it is written by contemporary writers from diverse school of thoughts such as modernism, post-modernism, post-colonialism, Marxism, and Feminism. Aside from these schools of thoughts that shape the ideas of contemporary literature, it is also influenced by several classic writers such as Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare. While contemporary literature most especially the bestsellers have been criticized by many literary theorist as not having the qualities that would qualify them in the pool of literary works, I guess contemporary literature has an equal value as that of the Classics. In the same way as the Classics exhibit qualities that made them withstand the test of time, contemporary literature would also have these qualities that would make them a reservoir of the sensibilities of people during the time where it is written. For instance, the rise of feminism or women empowerment is inexistent during the ancient times and the Victorian age. As a matter of fact, literature of those times was mostly my male writers and seldom will you find female writers. Moreover, not only that there are no women writers that exist, the writings on and about women are also written by men.
In line with this, my favorite poem from last week would be “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath. It is a poem that generally talks about how women of today’s age are empowered by the ability to choose what they wanted for themselves. Unlike that of the ancient times and the Victorian era, women are represented in literature as merely shadows of men. For instance, in The Iliad by Homer, all of the heroes were males except for the involvement of the goddesses in the novel. Ordinary women are portrayed as either a slaves or a wives. On one hand, in the Victorian Age, women are treated only to for men to satisfy their machismo tendencies. Plath does not only deviate from this kind of women representation common in classic literature but also assert a kind of women identity that has never been known to the world—that is, women empowerment.
In the poem, the persona that is a woman has a life on its own in which she has a choice on whether to continue or not. Even when the poem talks about her repeated suicidal attempts, the woman is still empowered in the sense that her death is a consequence of her own choosing and not of anyone else’s which is comparable to the death of Iphigenia. We remember that her death was because she was sacrificed by her father in order for the Greek fleet to have a safe journey to Troy. Empowerment is also evident in the persona’s assertion that she has nine lives. She has been resurrected for so many times, the same number as she committed suicide. Women are portrayed here as having control of themselves. Moreover, at the end of the poem, the persona asserted her powers over men by stating that she will rise with her red hair and she will eat men like air.
Contemporary literature may not be able to surpass the achievement and prestige of classic literature; however, there are certain aspects of contemporary literature that makes it a unique repository of the changing times which in this case is the rise of women empowerment among mankind.