|
Gathering Place
C. Ikehara |
When we lose literacy
we throw away humanityIf the world of books and reading ever brought to mind an image of seriousness, contemplation and detachment from our busy lives, two articles in the March 31 Star-Bulletin might indicate that those days are "gone with the wind."
Columnist Cynthia Oi described an experience she had as a customer in -- of all places -- a bookstore, where she was subjected to consumer questioning by an employee. According to the "Trend Watch" column in that edition, the recent Japanese novel "Deep Love" now can be read on cell phones in Japan. Can this be called progress?
The article goes on to say that the downloading of books into cell phones extends to "old classics." I can only wonder if "old classics" refers to such masterpieces as the "Tale of Genji" or to books regarded as "old classics" by the age group that would consider it hip to use a cell phone to read them?
Will even countries with ancient literary traditions be affected by the new technology and growing commercialism that are playing a greater role in our everyday lives?
Japan has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. But a few years ago, the New York Times published an article where a Japanese professor of literature was quoted as saying, "In Japan, literature is no longer mainstream culture." This is especially ironic since the Japanese word for civilization is "bummei," which literally means "enlightenment through the written word." In addition, the world's oldest novel, "The Tale of Genji," was written a millennium ago in Kyoto.
So is everyone now reading comic books? Called "manga" in Japan, comic books have been tremendously popular. But according to the Times article, even manga are going into decline. What is replacing them?
Once upon a time, one could look into a Japanese train and expect to see people doing one of two things: sleeping or reading. Today, one sees commuters preoccupied with portable electronic games, digital assistants and cell phones that enable them to send e-mail and surf the Net.
The Times article includes the observation of a Japanese publishing industry expert: "The way to success in this business is in writing easy-to-read books, with short sentences, lots of slang and easy plots." Does this mean "writers" will someday spend all their time churning out gossipy articles about the latest young, rising movie star or pop singer? Or will they be writing the captions of oversized color photos of beauty pageant winners? Will visuals eventually triumph over text? Will readers begin thinking they exist only to be entertained and start feeling that something must be horribly wrong if they find themselves getting bored for even half a second?
Once upon a time, wasn't reading supposed to promote critical thinking -- not only teaching the necessity of discerning the true from the false, distinguishing the possible from the impossible and acknowledging the limits of what we can control or change and what we cannot (or should not), but also preparing us for tough moral choices that had to do with distinguishing between right and wrong and ultimately recognizing good from evil?
And whatever happened to cultural continuity? Electronic diversions may be great for economic good times, but don't traditions provide us with the values and strength necessary to persevere through the bad times? Wasn't serious reading thought to be a tradition of traditions since the lessons learned from the literary masterpieces of the past served as a bridge between the generations? Didn't the wisdom gained from studying the classics encourage us to contemplate questions about the way of human nature and the meaning of life?
Isn't anyone who is not doing all he can to preserve traditions in effect hastening their demise? Has the unbridled spread of commercialism and technology transformed us from small groups of active, amateur participants to a large single mass of professional, passive spectators and nonstop consumers?
Will future generations no longer concern themselves with such issues because their ability to read and think critically will be long gone?
C. Ikehara lives on Oahu.