Tweets as literature? English Lessons (which is a great new blog, on a website that I swear caters to exactly what I want) comments on a recent call to arms to use Twitter to transcribe Ulysses on Bloomsday (June 16th for the unfamiliar). And yes, your humble author has already attempted to reserve the lines that are the namesake of this blog. But I digress…
Are twitter and other “new ways of writing” a threat to genius, production, heightened understanding, learning, etc.? Sadly many teachers think they are. But since when did altering our perspective, looking at things in a new light, or creating new art forms work against authentic learning? Reading and recreating Ulysses via twitter is akin to looking at the Mona Lisa from a different angle. Or, to use more literary analogy, reading Lolita one page a day. Is it equal to the experience of looking at a painting straight on, alone in your thoughts? or holing up in the corner of a library, consumed by a narrative for hours on end? Probably not. But does it nullify the value of the learning experience? Not really. It just changes it.
–ALR
Addendum: Throw Dickens into the mix.
