Literature and Media
Roles and
Responsibilities and Nation Building
My
topic involves three main elements – Literature, Media and Society, that have
conspicuous significance in the cultural evolution of mankind. All the three
elements play a vital role in determining the course of action in the
contemporary socio-political and cultural processes. Society can easily be
defined in terms of a group of individuals joined together by some common codes
of conduct and we may also allude to the geographical boundaries as they
contribute to the formation and consequent growth of the society as the common habits
and practices that determine the essentials of the society owe much to the
geographical conditions of place inhabited by individuals.
It
is unambiguous that the birth of the language and various other modes of
communication dates back to the emergence of various human orders in different
parts of the planet. The urge of communicate and realization of the
possibilities of the production of sound obliged mankind to explore the possibilities
related to the birth and growth of the language. It is imaginable how sounds
were produced and how different sounds were compounded to produce a sound order
that was later termed as words and later –probably after centuries of the brain
storming by the unknown linguists- the evolution of the rules of grammar sought
culmination and the language acquired a form and later a kind of universal
acceptability. It can easily be inferred that the birth of the society and that
of the language are two simultaneous and interdependent developments in the
history of human race. If the language serves the need of the society, the
society in turn serves to define its forms and function in the complex human
order, in the manifestations of various units and sub- units, and various
predilections of the group of individuals called society.
The
culmination of the form of language along various technicalities such as
grammar and diction eventually paved way for the higher objectives of language.
The language of day to day life was elevated to nobler functions and applications
and thus literature was born. It was born of the human urge to transcend the
time bound and reach the timeless. It is born of the man’s passion to uplift the
applications of the language from the narrow confines of the everyday situation
to the level far above the forgetfulness of ordinary conversations and verbal
interactions. Various dormant faculties of human mind rose up and started
clamouring for their share of language. Literature, no doubt has the strongest
claim on language- probably on first come first serve basis- securing a
distinct place and ascertaining the noblest function in the domain of the
application of language.
Literature-it
is evident- begins with a point much above the conversational application of
the language. It deals with the form and contents that do not necessarily and
frequently occur in everyday life and same is the case with language also. Although
there had been numerous theories and attempts to identify the language of day
to day conversation with that of poetry, the fact still remains unchanged that
literature- as an application of language- is fairly distinct from that used on
everyday conversations. In either case the contents are refined to a distinct
level. All the elements of literature, such as the structure of the specific
genre, the function of the specific specie of expression, the development of
the emotion to a consummate perception, and, of course, diction serve to
elevate the emotion enshrined in the work of literature to a highly universalized perception on the
part of the receiver. The perception may however vary according to the genre
and the function assigned to different elements or forms. Satire makes us
realize the pervasion of follies and foibles in a system through excitation laughter;
irony serves to diagnose the ailment pervading in a human set up. Novel serves
to represent human action in all its complexity and explores the finer aspects
of the social fabric that constitutes the backdrop of the action; Tragedy aims
at excitation pity and fear and thus all the forms of literature perform a
distinct function assigned against them.
The
literary initiatives owe their origin to the oral interactions between the
gifted calibres of small social set ups. It is an interesting observation that
the development of language and literature took place in the oral form of
communication when the script was not invented and the oral form of language
sufficed for conversational as well as literary purposes. In all the cultural
set ups, it is observed that the creation and preservation of the thoughts,
emotions, views and ideas took place in the oral mode of communication where
speech was produced and preserved in the memory and conveyed to the receiver.
The transmission of the message had two fold principal dimensions; to the
general audience, it aimed at mere conveyance of the crux of the matter and to
some few it was transmitted with a view to preserving the message and
transmitting it further to some new group with additions and modifications. The
discourses of Socrates, Plato Aristotle etc provide and fine instance of the
oral transmission of the intellectual substance. In India also, it is observed
that the oldest form of knowledge was created orally, preserved in oral form
and subsequently, transmitted in the same form also. In the Indian tradition,
the verses were composed by Gurus and transmitted to the disciples who
preserved the knowledge received from their mentors and added their
compositions to the noble receipt. The Vedas,
the Puranas and the Upnishads are composed and preserved in
the same form. It is also the cause of the extinction of many great works
containing ancient wisdom and knowledge. The linguistic accomplishment of these works
further ratify the fact that the form of the language, in all its varied
aspects, attained consummation during its application in oral form only.
It
is probable that the genre of literature which now is termed as non- fictional writings
is the oldest form of literature that precipitated through rare insight into
life and language alike at precise simultaneity, containing meanings,
experiences and views of universal significance. With the growing complexity in
the social order, a marked change was witnessed in the contents of literary
speeches and everyone knows that the journey that began with ordinary
discourses on practical wisdom eventually attained its peak in the various
scripts available today that originally were preserved and transmitted in oral
form.
The
importance of the oral form of communication, in the initial stages of the
development of literature and language, ratifies the fact that both the great
creations of human sensibility-language and literature-owe their genesis and
vitality to the gradual evolution of the concept of the society. It is
unquestionable that we need language not to interact with ourselves but with
the people that surround us in a social fabric. We aspire and perspire for
literary creation chiefly with a view to sharing the message with the society.
Thus the interdependence between literature and society is ratified and the
unbreakable bond between individual, society and literature is firmly
established.
The justification of the views confirming the
mutual interdependence of literature and society seek apt ratification in
literary theories as well as in the theories concerning various aspects of the
society like economics, psychology, political science etc. A brief reference to
the theories of literature firmly establishes the relation between literature
and the society. Plato in his famous political treatise The Republic advocates the
banishment of the poets and writers from the ideal state putting forth the plea
that poetry feeds and waters human passions. Although a little acceptability is
ascribed to Platonic view, yet, the relation between literature and society is
firmly established. Aristotle comes out with the theory of Catharsis as
function of tragedy. It is again noticeable that Catharsis is a direct
reference to the impact of the literature on the society. Aristotle’s The Poetics is probably the first
detailed discussion on the art of poetry covering all its varied aspects from
the story line to structure and eventually to the function assigned to it. The
definition of poetry is stated to be in terms of the ‘imitation of man in
action.’ There is a tacit reference to the social backdrop in the above quoted
phrase which becomes more clear when he defines tragedy in terms of ‘imitation
of the action which is serious, complete and of certain magnitude, embellished
with songs and diction ultimately leading to the purgation of pity and fear.’
The term ‘serious’ in Aristotelian terminology means that which matters and if
we examine the term in relation with the ‘catharsis of pity and fear,’ we
realize the inevitability of the social backdrop in determining the function of
poetry.
The romantic tradition of English poetry and
criticism also takes into consideration the impact of the poetry on the mind of
the reader thus directly takes into account the role of society in defining the
function of literature. Longinus, acknowledged as first prominent reputation in
the romantic critical tradition, puts forth the theory of the sublime after
examining the stylistic features of the contemporary orators and takes the
transportation of the audience from one plane to another plane. It is clear
from the theory put forward by Longinus that the literature functions solely in
relation with the group of listeners making the audience and this audience
cannot be visualized as distinct from the society.
William Wordsworth, defining the function of
poetry speaks in terms of induction of sanity and humanity in the mind of the
reader and holds the view that after reading the poem ‘the reader must be in
consonance with all nature.’ It is clear Wordsworth examines the function of
poetry in relation with the society. The much discussed theory of poetic
diction identifying of language of poetry with that the common man is a powerful
pronouncement ratifying the bond between literature and society.
Modern criticism also takes into consideration
the inevitable, unbreakable inter-dependence of literature and society. The
works of all the three major critics of modern age ratify the undeniable inter
dependence between literature and society. Eliot’s theory of dissociation of sensibility ultimately
aims at the simultaneous excitation of both the paradoxical faculties-rational
as well as emotional- in the mind of the readers. Similarly his theory of
‘objective correlative’ serves the same purpose of a holistic perception of the
emotion enshrined in the work of art in the mind of the reader.
Novel is another very prominent form of
literature with strong social significance. Every novel is essentially an
exploration of the society in all its varied aspects. The first novel of the
history of English literature- Tom Jones-
is fundamentally an exploration of the various aspects of the British society
depicting the essentials of its various sub-units. The inter-dependence of
novel and society becomes more evident when we realize that every novel aim at
creating its own society guided by the point of view of the narrator. In Indian
English novel we find that R K Narayan, in his short stories and novels,
structures a society dominated by the middle class ethos. Salman Rushdie
creates a society enforcing and enduring political victimization. Arundhati Roy
structures a society realized in paradoxical terms of female dominance and
endurance. Chetan Bhagat, who polarized
the preferences of young emerging India, creates a society which is dominated
by the pains and pangs, agony and ecstasies of young lot.
The passing references to the noted theorists
of literature also substantiate the interdependence of literature and society. In the same cadence, a reference to the social
studies and theory may also be referred to for the same purpose. There have
been a large number of social, political, psychological and even economical
theories that had no direct reference to literature, but quite surprisingly,
they exercised a direct and lasting influence on critical theories and practices
of literature. At this point references to Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and
Sigmund Freud is obligatory. The works of these three great thinkers and
philosophers have no direct correlation with literature but the fact cannot be
denied that their influence on literature stands beyond doubt. Darwin, with the
publication of The Origin of Species (1859)
puts a question mark on the Biblical concept of the genesis and worked out a
transmutation of the European intellect. Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams (1900) is another landmark in the history
of European wisdom which contributed to the transformation of the thought
process of the creative sensibility of the European people. Similarly Karl
Marx, though he never intended to be an art critic, yet, with the publication
of Das Capital (1885) her proved to
be the most influential figure as far as theorization and creation of art and
literature is concerned. It is an interesting observation that Marx and Freud
never aimed at producing a critical treatise but their influence of art and
literature is unquestionably more decisive than any literary critic in the
history of literature. Freud is unambiguously the most towering influence on
the literature of the first half of the twentieth century. James Joyce,
Virginia Wolf, and D H Lawrence owe their techno-thematic magnificence to the
works of Sigmund Freud. The world of art bears a qualitatively heftier debt to
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. Whole of the Surrealist Movement spearheaded
by Andrei Breton owes its birth and vitality to Freudean theories. It would not
be hyperbolic to say that if all the works of Salvador Dali are put in a
chronological order, they can aptly be titled as Interpretation of Dreams, the
title of the most celebrated work of the great master of psychoanalysis.
The impact of Karl Marx is another very
prominent aspect of modern art and literature which influenced a number of
great masters from various species of expression. In literature D H Lawrence,
though known more for Freudian influence, in a very subtle, strategic manner,
fuses Marx with Freud in his fiction. Sons
and Lovers (1913) puts forth a fine instance to justify the claim. There
are many great names in the history of art and literature who confessed debt to
the socio-economic theories of Marx. Two greatest names in history of modern
creativity- Charlie Chaplin and Pablo Picasso were avowed Marxist who never
abstained from admitting debt to Marx.
The Thirties Movement in British poetry, spearheaded by W H Auden is
another fine instance of the predominance of Marxist views on literature. In
India also, literature, painting and film making display the impact of Marxist
philosophy and the great master like M R Anand, Munshi Premchand, M F Hussain
Vimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Sahir Ludhiyanavi and many others could never escape the
tyrannical confines of Marxism. It is an interesting irony that noted film
maker Vimal Roy and poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhiyanavi were born in rich
families with feudal background yet their creativity was by and large defined
and determined in terms of Marxist Values. In Hindi poetry, the leftist
movement spearheaded by Gajanan Madhav Muktiboth is as important as the poetry
of thirties in the British poetry. The great names like Harishankar Parsai, Ram
Vilas Sharma, and Namvar Singh further ratify the pervasion of Marxism in
creativity and criticism alike.
A brief survey of the critical and creative
predilections of literature finally makes us realize that literature has strong
social function and without society it ceases to exist.
Media and literature have so many elements in
common. In either case there is a sender, and, in case of literature, he is the
poet of the writer whereas the same place in media is occupied by the editor/
sub editor or the news reader. There is
a medium and in case of literature the medium is mostly in the printed form
that may be a book, a magazine or a literary journal. Oral form is used in in performing
a play, or in a movie. At this point, I would like to make it clear that the
motion picture, which is the most complex form of creative enterprise and a
host of a number of art forms, is, according to me, not a form of media but
literature.
Although the term media acquired popularity
after the uncontrolled proliferation of the news channels, yet, the fact cannot
be denied that it has been functional since time immemorial. The earliest
examples of media are seen in form of munadis,
i.e. various public announcements that were made to bring into popular
attention some message or information from the kings or anyone enjoying the
privileged position in the court. The invention of printing press proved to be
a milestone in the development of media and ever since the publication of the
first newspaper in India, it has remained the most reliable and highly
respected form of media. Newspapers served numerous functions in the society
and one of them is of a language teacher. I remember on the completion of one
hundred and fifty year of The Times
in London, The Times of India was
rightly regarded as the English Teacher of India. The qualitative superiority
of the print media can easily be located in the famous line of the noted
philosopher, thinker and essayist- Francis Bacon who quite categorically
asserts that ‘writing makes a man exact.’ The legal validity of the written
form of communication is another prominent feature that prevents the journalist
from enjoying excessive liberty in reporting and producing information.
The form is another very prominent aspect of
the mechanism of media which defines and determines its role and function in
the society. The print media operates through the image created in space which
remains free from time whereas the electronic media creates the image in time and
affords a kind of immediacy of perception and the thought process that must
follow as a consequence of the reception of the information is resultantly
hampered and thus the inability of the electronic media to perform the function
of literature cannot be denied. The influence of literature is deep and long
lasting whereas media focuses only on the immediate aspect of the information.
The inter-dependence of the function and medium of literature is a well known
phenomenon. Literature influences the mind of the receivers in the long run and
offers acceptance or challenges to the pervading faiths and beliefs thus
entails-through a natural psychological process- a serious and thoughtful
response to the contents which stands at a very sharp contrast with our
response to the message delivered by media. It is not difficult to infer that
the alliance between literature and the print media is more lasting and
symbiotic than that between literature and the electronic media. The reason
being same as the scripted material gives us more scope to think and react than
the content in speech forms. The idea seeks handsome justification in the
history of literature. There have been a number of literary reputations who owe
their renown, at least in the initial stages of the development, to print
media. Addison and Steele are among the most famous names. In the modern
English literature essayists like Robert Lynd, A G Gardiner, and George Orwell and
in American literature writers like Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and Thoreau etc had
long association with the print media. In Hindi literature also the great names
like Harishankar Parsai and Dharmveer Bharati came into prominence chiefly due
to their association with print media. In Indian English writings Khushwant
Singh is known more as an editor and columnist than as a writer of fiction.
Likewise Preteesh Nandi, the famous poet owes much to print media for his fame
as a poet. Many other writers like Chetan Bhagat and Shobha De are read more in
their columns than in their fiction.
Magazines and newspaper have been providing
separate space for literature by publishing supplementary which attracts the
attention of the class of readers inclined to the enjoy the nobler forms and
contents. Times Literary Suppliment provides
a fine instance of the same. There have been a number of magazines that
promoted literature in India in many languages. Dharmyug, Saptahik Hindustan and Dinmaan are three conspicuous names that served much to promote
Hindi literature by providing space for poetry and criticism. The art criticism
in India owes much to Dinmaan for its
present status. In English The
Illustrated Weekly of India has
been a popular name among the cynosures of art and literature. Similarly Desh under the editorship of Sagarmay
Ghosh in Bengali enjoyed the same reputation. Even the interviews of popular
matinee idols used to be enriched with literary flavour, whereas the same thing
is missing almost completely in modern day programs on television channels. The
space is there but it is glutted with crude information regarding their
personal life, without a word on their image and its social relevance, completely
lacking sensible criticism regarding the form and function of the genre.
It is
however ironical that none could survive the fatal onslaught of the electronic
media and surrendered to the misfortunes causeds by the monstrous invasion of
technology. Medium, it seems, is the weak point of the print media which
demands time consumption as against the speedy wave of news and views emanating
from a television screen with enormous support of visual aids, however, the
authenticity of these visual aids is often debatable.
Literature, it need not be repeated, involves
deep and lasting objectives of universal significance. It is a cleaver and
skilful summation of the time bound and the timeless as summed up by Eliot as
‘historical sense.’ Literature represents both of the paradoxical aspects of
human life in a strategic proportion which is completely missing in electronic
media. It is indeed understandable that
with the advancement of technology and with the proliferation of electronic
media in form of news channels a complete surrender to the tyranny of time was
witnessed and the contents involving serious and thoughtful response gradually
became obsolete. However, it is a painful irony that literature continued to
play an important if not decisive role during the transitional phase of its
growth. In Doordarshan era, there were a number of programs dealing with
literary themes in form of serials, interviews etc. The serials like Darpan and Kathasaagar are still fresh in my mind. Darpan was a selection of the finest short stories of India
written in different languages in form of pictorial narrative. Kathasaagar also recreated short stories
in the pictorial form, although selected from a much wider range of human
experience. Film criticism could be seen at its best in the The Portrait of the Director in which
the craft of four great directors- Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and
Manmohan Desai- was discussed with great analytical approach and acumen. Interviews
of the great masters of art and literature were frequently telecast during the
Doordarshan era but now with so many channels to our access, this privilege for
a class of viewers seems to have vanished completely. The situation invites
interrogation, and, besides other factors discussed later, it can also be said
that during the transition from print media to visual extravaganza, the
pre-existing habits of time consuming involvement were respectfully taken into
consideration but, with the passage of about a decade and half, the patience of
the viewers faded out completely and the medium also became too proud and
arrogant to bother about the desired form of the content that may lead to the
fulfilment of essential need of the Fourth Estate of the Indian democracy.
A reference to the responsibilities ascribed
to media takes the discussion to some allied aspects related to the topic. Let
us now analyse the role of media in the socio-political set up of the nation. Media
has been called the Fourth pillar of democracy; the first three being
Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The obvious reason is that the role of
media is to watchdog the working of the first two pillars of democracy if not
all the three. The history of journalism in India acquaints us with the fact that
media had been playing its role to a level that can be said to be more than
satisfactory. And this resulted into the
fact that whenever there was some Constitutional crisis, media rose to the
occasion and performed the duty of safeguarding and defending the
Constitutional values. The imposition of the Emergency in 1975 is one such
example where Indian media fought a tough battle against the government. The
role of Indian Express and Arun Shourie, under the flagship of Ramnath Goyanka
is still remembered with great respect. The crusade against the freedom of
press expressed by leaving the editorial page blank is indeed a memorable day
in the history of Indian journalism. Similar retaliation to the government was
offered again by the print media during the late eighties, when media’s right
to freedom of expression was questioned in the parliament. The vigilant
intellect of early seventies may not forget the efforts made by Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein to locate and truth and justice for the people of the United
States of America. They both fought a tough battle against the contemporary Head
of the nation Richard Nixon and brought forth the bare truth regarding the
maltreatments by the governments to public attention and knowledge.
That
was indeed the real fourth pillar of democracy, which now seems to be a distant
if not impossible dream.
Again there is a question regarding why this
change; why this deterioration.
Again
there is a question regarding the factors responsible for this change, this
deterioration.
Again there are questions about the possible
remedies to the existing crises with monstrous dimensions.
It is true that media has always been
clamouring for freedom and discarding any kind of restrictions imposed by the
agencies of the establishment. And the demand is justified and self sufficient
as no task of creative or intellectual significance is possible when the
creator himself is enduring confinement. Journalists claimed freedom; commanded
freedom and capitalized freedom by retaining and maintaining rectitude
regardless of magnitude of adversity they were subjected to. The pabulum
amassed on their limping table was stirred and agitated to produce truth and
this attainment of truth was their goal; their success; their glamour and
everything that a responsible denizen of Indian might aspire for. Journalism
was identified with perseverance; with research and development and with
untiring and relentless crusade to explore facts and data to arrive at truth.
Even on celluloid, the journalists were delineated as tireless crusader for
truth and justice. They were delineated with resistance to greed, lust and fear
for instituting truth for social, national and global welfare. There are a
number of examples of the delineation of the character of journalists in the
Hindi and Hollywood movies and they all conform to the same view. The movies
like Saleem Langade Pe Mat Ro, Mashaal,
Tridev and recently released Guru involve
some characters from print media who resists all the temptations and fears of
worldly life and the tidal invasion of the threat, death and power. In Hollywood,
the characterization of the journalist is of great metaphorical significance. They
are delineated with strong intellect and insight coupled with sound professional
commitment. The great movies like Mexico
in Flames (1972) starring Franko Nero who impersonated the character of John
Reed a celebrated journalist. All the
President’s Men (1974) is another great movie structured around Watergate
Scandal. In this movie Robert Redford impersonated the character of Bob
Woodward and Dustin Hoffman impersonated the character of Carl Bernstein. As
discussed above the investigations of these two great journalists eventually
brought the President close to impeachment. However Nixon’s successor Gerald
Ford- the Vice President of the United States of America during the
Presidential years of Richard Nixon- finally issued a full and unconditional
pardon for him.
Now under existing set of circumstances, a
comparison of the journalists of the previous era with those of present era,
dominated, defined and determined in terms of technological intervention is
obligatory. Today, when we talk about media, we don’t remember the struggle for
truth, nor do we remember a helpless intellect struggling for justice. On the
contrary what strikes our mind is actually a man with refined appearance and
sophisticated looks, supervising with unusual autocracy rather tribal despotism
a loud and vociferous talk on some issue that crushes the quest for truth and aims
at capitalizing (or creating) some controversy. These participants are some
common favourites with typified identity and appearance. It is not difficult to realize that the whole
set up takes the form and shape of the house of the Big Boss and the show
begins. The show begins without any assurance- tacit or otherwise- of the
authenticity of the contents however the tonal variations compensate for all
the loss of authenticity and truth that takes place in due course of the
debate. Again the function of literature captures our attention for its
contrast value. The debate is over; nothing takes place in our mind; no
realization; no new germination of thought or idea; no emotional storm; no
intellectual exercise, no brain storming. Only the volumes change. Only the
languages change. There are same voices and same vices that keep on resounding
and in the end same crude entertainment and a sense of regret for dawdling long
on something worthless. And the role of media is over for the day. There is
nothing like genesis of the paradoxical vibrations of the conscious and the
spontaneous; intellectual and emotional as suggested by Aristotle and later
Eliot in assigning the function of literature. There is nothing like the
pervasion of sanity or consonance with nature as asserted by Wordsworth. There
is no language of paradox, despite violent contradictions, as suggested by
Cleanth Brooks in his essay on the nature of the language of poetry. The
anchors monitor the debate like the captain of a group of school students
sometimes by shouting; sometimes by ridiculing but nothing decisive comes out.
No realization settles in mind the way it does while completing a short story,
or a lyrical poem. And what a sensitive intellect experiences is a complete
split between literature and media as mere sensationalism has not been the
function of any genre of literature, not even a paranormal or horror movie.
The question that strikes our mind is what one
receives after such confrontations with sensationalism and want of truth and
authenticity.
Literature facilitates the
perception of hope and positivity even amidst the deepest despair that we may
confront and the media, with above discussed preferences is merely clouding the
ray of hope with the fear of darkness. A simple case of eve teasing becomes a
heinous crime if the two belong to different communities, or, a simple gang war
among the scoundrels may take the shape and form of a communal riot if the man
on the screen bleeding profusely is belongs to a minority. What follows the
discussion is even more frightening. The Governments are abruptly declared to
be anti-minority. The safety and security of every citizen of India is
jeopardized. Every pedestrian walks across a cascade of corpses. Every car of
motor bike runs across the carnage. Everyone reaches home only by sheer favour
of fortune. And very soon, the integrity of the nation suddenly becomes
questionable in the international platforms glutting the mind of every citizen
of India with shame and guilt. Imaginary sanctions from the IMF, the World
Bank, and other international bodies, and developed nations are prophesied. And
the whole nation is disgraced. I
remember one prominent leader of India using the word ‘genocide’ to describe
the Gujrat riots and media went on glorifying the linguistic contraption until
the erstwhile Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee made the meaning of the
much publicized word clear with an appeal not to use a word without knowing the
meaning. Similarly any dispute between the upper and lower classes is another
tasty dish media always prowls for. No matter who initiates the dispute but of
the bleeding boy belongs to the lower class then the whole nations is held
responsible for the simple injury. All the great leaders of Indian National
Movements are remembered with tearful tribute to them for their work and
philosophy. Media veneers their monuments with pity for being neglected in the
nation known for ingratitude and the process goes on until the procurement of
some new issue.
Now what is the outcome?
Are we making a better India?
Are we inculcating better mindset?
Are we not replacing sanity,
sympathy and spirit of nationalism with violence, alienation and hatred for
fellow beings?
Probably there is no off hand
affirmation to these question, but, an offhand denial to them is also not
possible. The editorials and the columns in the editorial page in the
newspapers draw a very close parallel with the debates in the news channels.
Now query looms up whether we can compare these two from the point of view of
language and contents; from the point of view of authenticity and conformity to
national, social and global welfare.
Again we are trapped in the same
predicament. Can there be an immediate affirmation or an offhand denial?
After a debate of television
channel, what we experience is an attempt to induce discrimination in the mind
of the viewers. We are suddenly reminded that there are Hindus, there are
Muslims. We are Hindus. We are Muslims, and one of them is misappropriating the
rights and privileges of the other. We are suddenly reminded that there are two
different classes in India- upper class and lower class; the upper class is
highly atrocious and the lower class is the poor and humble recipient of injustice,
discrimination and atrocity. The disturbance in the individual mind leads to
the disturbances and disorder in individual collective mindset and behaviour. This
is the reason why most of the psychological disorders bloomed to alarming
frequency and magnitude in the first half of the twentieth century when Eliot
saw the whole Europe as the waste land.
A birth without ancestry is never
desired in a social order. Electronic media puts forth the action without
tracing its ancestry and takes it to the future generation where the action is
reproduced, though imaginatively, with the possibilities of destruction and
disorder. It is ironical the repercussions of such distortions make our society
sick by rupturing the faith and emotional bond which man is born with for a
fellow being. Glorification of evil, which has been a hit formula used in Hindi
films, is now the pivot around which the electronic media revolves. The
negative characters in the movies are always delineated with visible and
perceptible riches that the common man aspires for and a natural gravitation
towards destruction and evil is generated. Electronic media, it seems, is
adamantine on making capital of the same formula denying the basic principle
that facts first rest everything afterwards. The contemporary preference of
media is dramatics first, intonation first narrative first and fact afterwards
or sometimes facts never. The action or the incident is picked up from the
point where distortion, deviation and dramatization is possible. What precedes
the action or what are the parent forces responsible for the birth of the
action is completely overlooked and the justified description is replaced with
glorified narration- the very element that contradicts the ethical gamut of the
journalism.
In recent years, as a result of
the growing anarchy in the field of electronic media, a very unfortunate practice
has been in vogue. The Constitution of India regards Judiciary as independent
of the other two pillars of the Indian democracy and no direct intervention of
the either of the two remaining pillars is admissible in the functioning of the
Judiciary. In recent years, it has been observed that electronic media weighs
the Judiciary in the same balance and never abstains from applying the same
parameters for this independent pillar of democracy which it had been adopting
for the Legislature and Executive. Questioning the verdicts with skilful
application of the language is a common practice of the electronic media. The
predicaments of the Judiciary and its confinement to the legal and
Constitutional stipulations are often ignored and the imaginary interpretation
of the IPC is a common practice of the day. The Nirbhaya case- one of the most
disgraceful accidents ever- is no doubt a fine instance substantiating my views
when one of the accused being a minor escaped the punishment.
The darker side of this practice
is not just the violation of the Constitutional values but also the possible
disturbance in the individual and consequently collective mindset of the
viewers.
The situation gives birth to a number of
questions emanating from the present day situation regarding media and their
role in the nation building. The first question that arises is why this
addiction to the darker side of life and society, and secondly what is the
function of such narratives or dramatics in the debates that we see on the
small screen.
Once we start searching answers to
the questions discussed above, a number of factors come into prominence.
Electronic media, by the very nature itself involves huge investment and unlike
print media, the growth of the electronic media and neither slow nor gradual
but abrupt with meteoric pace. It is zooming up at a high pace with abrupt
growth. When electronic media came into existence, the print media has had a
life span of about a couple of centuries and if we talk only about The Times
Group, we find that it had completed one and a half century of unquestioned
supremacy in the field of journalism. Secondly the involvement of technology that
facilitates the medium with speed and immediacy, makes the whole business too
expensive and invites the investment of big business groups. It is an open
secret that almost all the media groups are owned by the some or the other big business
groups and association with business groups eventually leads to political
affiliation of the media group with some or the other political party and thus
the canvassing either for or against the establishment becomes an undeniable
need for them to run the show. Under such circumstances, the role of
truthfulness and authenticity becomes redundant and we compromise with what we
are served by the medium. Most of the time we sit before the television set and
spend time without any conscious interaction with the source. The act of
listening is diverted and lacks focus and involvement. The availability of the material is another
prominent cause of the half hearted reception of the contents. Earlier on radio
set and later on Doordarshan also, the news was broadcast in a disciplined
manner in fixed time slots and that is the reason why people used to wait for
the news with curiosity and sincerity. But, now the focus is missing, with the
pretext that any time the news telecast may be acceded to. It is thus clear that the element of
literature is missing from both the ends of the process; from the sender as
well as from the receivers. The senders relies more on non- literary elements
which do not allow the receiver to the kind of involvement in the process and
at the same time the receiver too fails to respond to the message with desired
conviction and commitment that is obligatory for the just and honest
appreciation of the work of literature.
Sans literature, it can be
inferred in the light of the intellectual enterprises we are accustomed to, media
is nothing better than dross linguistic exercises which succeeds in killing our
time but fails to influence us in the desired manner. However by literature, I
don’t mean just the linguistic jugglery or the ornamental use of the language
aiming at flabbergasting the mind of the receivers with new kind of poetic
diction long back denied by romantics in theory as well as practice. But the best way to be literary for the any
kind of media would be to perform the function of literature discussed above in
the expository part of this discussion. The Aristotelian doctrine of the
function of the tragedy defined in terms the excitation of pity and fear defines
the function of literature in all its completeness as the enhancing power of
pity serves to identify the reader with the fate of the protagonist and the
excitation of fear in turn bring the reader back to himself with enlightenment
and realization of the inevitable in the circumstance enacted on the stage. The
same view is also expressed by Dryden who defines the function of the tragedy
(actually comi-tragedy) in terms of pleasure and instruction. The
identification of the reader with the protagonist pleases him with expansion of
the individual to universal; specific to general; and the inevitable reversal
to specific from universal, instructs him. Eliot’s theory of unification of
sensibility and sensuous apprehension of thought also come out with the same
paradoxical experience of emotions and intellect; of spontaneous and conscious;
of sense and sensibility; the two paradoxical aspects of human mind.
The question jumps up with
clamouring voice against all possibility of the respectful inclusion of literature
in the functioning of the electronic media for the reasons discussed above as
they constitute a common and ready perception of any vigilant intellect. Any
kind of compromise with the financial framework and consequently with various
affiliations- commercial as well as political- seems to be a distant
possibility. The power hunger of the electronic media is an insurmountable
barrier hampering the recovery of professional ethics and reinstitution of the
parameters defining values.
Then what is the solution?
It is rightly said that every
problem has a solution. And this problem is no exception to the rule. It is
time for us to be optimistic about the future of the Indian and global
creativity and intellect. The history of India acquaints us with the fact that
all the fatal blows on the cultural and intellectual framework of India died
out inducing some simple modifications ultimately resulting into the broadening
of the horizon of Indian sensibility and collective thought process. The
solution seems to be appearing in a new form of media that is the Internet
media that has come out offering challenges first to print media by being more
inclusive of the rich participation of the receivers to the subject and
contents, and secondly to electronic media, in a decisive manner, by stirring
human intellect, rejuvenating the quest for truth and engendering the passion
to express in either manner; formal or informal, and more important than any of
the these, by providing a platform to interact with the audience as huge as
that of the electronic media. With sincere apologies to the great calibres of
computer science present in the audience, I would like to use the term Internet
Media and by the terms I mean the media that involves the use of internet as
medium. It is clear that media now is not just a plural of medium but now it
refers to a complex process of mass communication involving a medium with a
distinct identity and importance. The
internet media, according to me, is a much wider and inclusive process of communication
which includes social media, social networking, online publication, You Tube
etc.
The ideal of the freedom of
expression seeks culmination through social media and social networking. The
inclusion of literary forms and functions both is unquestionably the most
outstanding aspect of the role of social media. Social Media has come out with a number of
productive results in favour of literature; the implementation of literary
values into digital form enjoying unlimited space with open challenge to the
tyranny of time through preservation of the literary contents. The induction of
internet media has worked out the transformation of the concept of
communication at various levels; at the level of sharing views and information.
The print media and later the electronic media offer one sided communication to
the receivers without affording any scope of participation from their end. We
accept whatever right or rubbish is conveyed and no participation from our end is
possible. Print media however provides some space for the readers’ response to
the content but no such facility is provided by the electronic media. Social media provides an open and more
democratic platform to react and respond. The contribution of social media to
literature is growing higher and acquiring new dimensions. On one hand, it
assures the availability of the literary works of all ages and genres, and, on
the other hand it also provides space for instant publication and creates scope
for immediate feedback. The popularity of any new writer now can be assessed
more in terms of the availability of his work in digital form than in the
printed form in the book shop. As per recent survey reports available in the
media it is said that around half the global population has classed itself as netizen which seems quite a
surprising figure. And this meteoric rise of net users has worked out so
many metamorphoses. On one hand, they have made the receivers more active and
reactive, and, at the same time they have structured a huge platform for
interaction at both-oral and written forms thus making the milieu more and more
literature oriented; feeding the blooming intellects
with penchant towards literature thus ascertaining a healthy future for
creative instincts and initiatives. The social media deserves the credit
for facilitating literature with new forms and genres. Aphorism, which used to
be just a prominent element defining the prose style of Francis Bacon,
eventually, after the emergence of this new medium has been elevated to a form.
Fiction has acquired new volume and size. A reader of Joyce’s Ulysses or Maugham’s Of Human Bondage could never imagine that
a piece of fiction would ever be read in this miniscule volume. Twitter proved
to be too advanced in performing experiments with literary forms. It introduced
short fiction with the narrative spanning one hundred and forty character of
less. It is interesting to note that the young writers are also experimenting
with a series of posts with gradual development of the narrative.
The simplest service that can be
rendered by media is to literature is realized in form of book reviews. It is
unfortunate that media has played little attention in this direction.
Electronic media has absolutely nothing to do with the release of new titles
unless some controversy zooms and captures attention. In print media the
condition is only a little better, but the role of the publication house brings
so many unwanted factors into consideration. The review favours only the
favourites and struggling writers continue to struggle until some external
force obliges the press to pay heed to their work. In almost all the
newspapers, same book is reviewed from almost same point of view and it cannot
be a coincidence all the time. It is
clear that book reviews are sponsored and involve either financial or personal
affiliation. Social media, in this respect, is quite fair and democratic. There
is no restriction on the choice of book and at the same time there is no
limitation regarding point of view as one book is reviewed from divergent
points of view, affording the receiver and an independent and unbiased choice.
Publication is another great boon brought forth by internet media. To get a
book ready in print form always involved lot of effort, patience and a fair
degree of luck. Internet media, has blessed numerous young writers with the
opportunity to get their works published and earn name and fame and instant
feedback as well.
The role of social networking site
can also not be overlooked in this context. Whats App and Facebook are two
great absorption of the nation regardless of the age group, profession and
family background. The urge to express and retaliate seeks apt support from
these two platforms making the system more democratic than otherwise. The
principal benefit regarding these social networking sites is that the receiver
is not a dumb and deaf moron but is blessed with scope, space and opportunity
to react. Neither print media nor electronic media rendered this precious
service to their viewers or readers. The simultaneous involvement of emotions
and intellect is the real boon of social networking sites that brings their
working close to literary experience through the inclusion of the
function of literature discussed above.
The role of literature and media
in nation building has multi-dimensional manifestations. Literature has, since
time immemorial, been an active watch dog of human mind that serves to stuff
the mind of man with sanity, nobility, and inclusiveness by continuously
widening the sphere of human sensibility. We live with differences. Swami
Vivekanand rightly points out that no two men see the same world. Literature has been lubricating the friction
between two different rather discordant points of view to a peaceful
assimilation in a single human order. Literature, in all its varied forms
contribute to humanity by making man
more and more humane; by making man more and more sympathetic to fellow human
beings, nature and even to inanimate objects. It may be the sonnet of John
Donne, a tragedy of Shakespeare, and lyrical poetry of John Keats, but, a sense
of realization is bound to be there followed by the birth of sanity and
sympathy in human mind eventually paving way for the birth and growth of a
healthier society; the society consisting of a healthy, analytical mind without
any blind adherence to any philosophy or ideology that may divert the path of
the nation from attaining the ideals of democracy.
Media is a new form of
communication and the question that strikes our mind is if it can cope up with
literature in performing the noble social function assigned to literature.
I am quite optimistic about it. It
definitely can. However what media needs today is the adoption of the plausible
methodology of presenting the news and views. Certain elements like
sensationalism political affiliation etc have to be taken care of. Media ought
to realize that it now has acquired a role and status that is independent of
any political or financial patronage. The inclusion of literary elements is an
undeniable need of the day for media, however I never mean to define the role
of literature only in terms of inclusion of literary masterpieces in the
routine telecast but the best way to be literary is to adopt the function of
literature in the debates, news analysis and other such programs, and, by the
adoption of literary elements in the performance of media, I only mean the to
achieve the ultimate function of literature and that is nothing but widening
the range and human mind; making them more sane and sympathetic and making them
more worthy citizens of the democratic set up like India.
The goal can certainly be achieved
and what we need to achieve the goal is the realization of certain inevitable
social responsibilities that the electronic media, being the fourth pillar of
the Indian democracy, is bestowed with. The electronic media in India is very
much close to completing the third decade of its existence and this the age
when the sense of responsibility attains maxima of realization and
implementation. He is not longer a student depending on parents for pocket
money. Likewise our electronic media is not longer a shikshit berojgaar, seeking pocket money from the parent figures,
may be a political party of a financial patron. The electronic media,
approaching thirties, is now self dependent, married with children and expected
to perform all the duties with grace and dignity. Like a young and modern self
reliant father, what electronic media needs is a kind of self censoring through
realization of what is more ardently needed for the society and nation. It may
be an advertisement, or a news analysis, a debate or a live telecast. Any kind
of censorship on any intellectual or creative activity is nothing but a permanent stain on the history of that
nation but if the media- print or electronic- adopts the path of self censoring
through realization of the most basic responsibilities towards the nation and
the society, it is blessed with powers to change the the society, the nation
and the world at large.
The
aims and objective that are assigned to media can be achieved by developing
mutual coordination between its various forms. The role of media is, in the
present social set up of India, is so complex that sans media, the image of the
nation and society appears as collaged with fillers and no complete picture of
the society can be comprehended. The mutual respect among various forms of
media prevalent today is one very important factors that may facilitate the process of transforming
India. In recent years, it has been observed that various forms of Internet
media, electronic media and print media have started functioning in mutual
coordination with one another. In the newspapers, we come across a separate
column for the issues having viral status. In the electronic media also the
viral issues on You Tube are given separate space.
Still
I feel that the space for literature lacks sufficiency which is the indication
that more modification are needed.
Still
the hope for gradual and consistent growth of mutual coordination between
various forms of media is ripe and what we see is dross but what we foresee is
that the sheen of hope is penetrating the thick clouds of despair and soon the
horizon of Indian democracy with glitter with new suns in the cosmos of
communication.
Thanks
a lot for your patient and sincere listening.
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