Culture and Sub-Genres in Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Culture and Sub-Genres in Literature - Essay Example There are others that seek to completely refute this argument, saying that art and politics are intrinsically linked and that the artist has to be a socially responsible person, an aspect that would shine through his art. Then again, it is this diversity of viewpoints that enables the existence of genres and subgenres. The existence of a literary politics is also evident in the presence of subcultures, which more often than not are the creations of specific communities that have certain vested interests in promoting certain subcultures. Being in certain senses a mirror of the society, art cannot be completely divorced from the material realities of the world that influence the very production of literature and the reception of it at the level of the consumer, who himself or herself has certain expectations of a political literariness that may be present in a writer that he may choose to read the works of. For instance, a person who picks a book of Chinua Achebe would be ready for a p ostcolonial politics that informs the writing of Achebe (Achebe). There are, of course issues that overlap and are present in the works of authors who may not overtly profess ideologies relating to those issues, but these analyses occur when one seeks to read a work along the faultlines of the narrative that the writer seeks to provide the reader. The culture of a certain society decides the stereotypes that exist within that society. It is the society that seeks to impose certain identities on certain communities that then enter into the public consciousness and that of that particular community as well. This then leads to that community fashioning itself according to the identities and stereotypes that the society imposes on it. This leads to the literature that is produced by that community being typecast, to a certain extent, not just by other communities but also by the community that produces it, under pressure to conform to the identities that are imposed by the discourse tha t are a part of everyday societal life. The subgenres that these communities create along with the society that also lead to the creation of subcultures finally are sustained by the discourses that sustain the identities, which are essentially constructs of the society. They then become structures that support and sustain each other. There then seems to be no exit from this vicious cycle that is created by both parties. The effect of the society in the creation of subgenres in literature is thus evident. The society that communities are a part of and help constitute themselves is a reflection of the literature that the society produces. Apart from this, like the earlier mentioned cycle, society and literature too, form a cycle whereby the two mirror each other and help in the modification of each other. From the above discussion, one can also understand the historical aspect of the problem that is in front of us. Communities produce subgenres that reflect their triumphs and defeats that have become a part of their culture. Thus literature becomes a means and a platform for these cultures that have been shaped by historical forces to manifest themselves. The historical aspe