Do you think literature is on its deathbed? Is it the worst

not really
there's likely to be many undistinguished works published today that will bear some significance 100 years from now. Much of our culture is immersed in easy entertainment-- low tier film, comedy whatnot. Advances in technology may be the culprit. [We] now have twitter sized attention spans and scroll through the same facebook content aimlessly.

>>7742254
Its just taking some time to figure out its next phase. It's pretty encouraging that so many people on lit seem to want to bring it back to life.

>>7742254
maybe you can save it anon, are you the next james joyce :^)

>>7742254
what are you talking about?

Tao Lin is the voice of this generation. He will be read for centuries to come.

>>7742274
I know I am, but I also need people to read my shit

>>7742254
Saturation and the inevitable lack of originality. Same thing happened to art, and cinematography and music are probably headed that way.
The future is going to be unbearably dull.

>>7742412
I guess we can only create so much.

>>7742412

>Saturation
I agree. The Internet and self-publishing means that we're becoming more aware of the dreck that populates the left side of the aesthetic bell curve. It's harder than it used to be to get large groups of people interested in one specific author.

>inevitable lack of originality
Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. There's more innovation and experimentation in the world of literature every day. Especially considering how literature is tying into the digital realm and most of the written word is out there in the ether. Complaining that we're losing originality is a lazy bullshit argument.

>>7742254
There's been lots of good contemporary literature both domestic and foreign, from recent man bookers and nobels to NYRB press releases. Just because you are stuck with the /lit/ 100 doesn't mean that Ishiguro or marlon James or yanigahara or modiano or Alice Munro or Coetzee etc etc don't exist. Stop reading what you are told to On /lit/ and go crack open a journal.

>>7742254
>Is it the worst it has ever been?
The 870s and 1110s were worse. But yeah, it's pretty bad.

>>7742254
No
No
Big like who and at what time?

>>7742254
Pretty sure it's always been this way. In the moment we are always drowning in shit but as time passes the proper gems stand the test of time and everything else is forgotten. Also, things that seem boring and mainstream today may be looked back on with a different context and recognized as being culturally important. Lastly, there is an aspect of elitism. A piece of media is perceived as less valuable if it is popular amongst the unwashed masses.

Tldr. People said the same thing as op about media during the time his/her favourite classics appeared.

>>7742443

But anon... all of those writers suck

>>7742539
>Munro
>sucks
What makes a man turn pleb?

>>7742539
>being this edgy
>hasn't actually read any of them

If only DFW was still alive......

>>7742443
Those writers are good, but they're old as fuck, and there's nothing that screams out NEW about their writing. They will be remembered as late-twentieth century authors.

I think Knausgaard might be the first big twenty-first century name, though, and DFW might become the starting point for people talking about this century's lit due to his emphasis on technology, over-stimulation and ennui. We'll see.

>>7742254
Sales of poetry has increased in the last decade.

>>7743056
yeah one guy in 2008 couldnt find a used poetry anthology for his GCSEs so he had to buy one new

>>7743055
I mean they havent created a new literary movement or anything, but OP suggests that literature is on its deathbed, when it is very much alive, just not particularly innovative right now.

That says nothing about the quality of contemporary works...

>>7742539
>all contemporary /lit/ is shit
its like 2012 on this board again except for the low quality reddit posts.

>>7743072
Damn night you destroyed me

>>7742254
There's so much shit flooding our media that we won't know the genius of our time until we give the chaff a while to recede.

Also protip: the genius of our time is Ulililia