Reach Cambridge Explorer Program, 2007 Genny Zimantas What is a ‘Literature’? Reach Cambridge Explorer Program, 2007 Genny Zimantas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogPZ5CY9KoM

Once upon a time… Most of the literature we talked about yesterday was paper-based, but the printing press (which made the mass production and circulation of ‘books’ possible) was only invented in the 15th century. ‘Literature’ has existed for at least two and a half thousand years.

Two Big Questions: How do we define ‘literature’? What has literature looked like? What does it look like now? What might it look like in the years/decades/centuries to come?

A Place to Start

The Ancient Greeks Democracy Philosophy Math The Olymipics Drama (Tragedy / Comedy) Epic Poetry http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z8q8wmn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS4jk5kavy4

Homer, Epic Poetry, and the Oral Tradition

… a few thousand years later.

The Medieval Bard 5th to 15th centuries A professional, travelling story teller and performer

Renaissance Theatre 14th to 17th centuries

And only somewhere in this renaissance period do we get the printing press!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLctAw4JZXE

Magazines and Pamphlets in the 18th and 19th centuries *fun fact: most of the nineteenth century ‘novels’ we read today were first published in installments in periodicals or journals.

So printed books didn’t really become affordable until the late 19th or early 20th century, helping to spur on literary Modernism… But that’s a topic for another class! (Thursday’s class!)

But what about ‘Literature’ today? What does literature look like? Kindles Audiobooks And more?? 1914 portrait by Nathan Altman

A Big Question: Why does the form or medium of literature matter A Big Question: Why does the form or medium of literature matter? How might form or medium change the way we read content?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvgDAOG8W6c

And what might it look like next?