World Lit To Renaissance
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Why do we write? Even our descriptions of history assume a literacy; on one hand, we have “pre-history”, and then “recorded history”. A written record is the most important legacy a culture can leave. Ancient cultures collected and contrived stories for many reasons, not the least of which was to leave that heritage for future generations; however, storytelling and folklore also served the dual purposes of entertainment and enhancing cultural pride. It is important to remember that no matter the prime mover of the author, the results have left us a rich tapestry to judge the cultures that have long since passed. While it may not have been as overt through the rest of history, the Chinese (placeholder) dynasty ruler (placeholder) said “(placeholder).” We cannot, however, assume that all cultures compiled these stories to enlighten others of their long-dead civilization; it is rarely in a civilizations worldview and mindset to say “one day, we will be gone.” Rather, most civilizations write to pass on their traditions to their own peoples, not trying to affect what the future will say about them, but instilling in their own progeny the pride and the culture that they know. Since we can infer that the stories we have read thus far are written not for the future so much as the present, it seems logical to approach writing a new literary legacy in the same fashion. What are the best ways for a writer to succeed in the two major goals of ancient literature, survivability (the ability for the story to weather the ages) and productivity (the ability of the story to instill cultural knowledge)?
The first step any writer, including the imaginary “writer-self” of this assignment, must make is choosing a format to most effectively achieve the two literary goals. As a modern writer, I have the benefit of examining all of the forms invented since the beginning of recorded history, but it is important to note that the ancient writers did not have such a luxury; they would have had to use whatever storytelling or composition style was available to them in the more primitive state. I believe that, as biologists put it, form fits function, and the ancient writers developed their unique forms of writing to fit the function of the two goals. Since literacy (reading and writing) were not widespread well into the 18th century and beyond, most stories were transmitted orally, which means that to fit the function of survivability, the story must be easily remembered. In some societies, such as the Bards in Celtic Ireland, were devoted strictly to memorization of folklore. But having a work that is easily memorized and remembered has more than the obvious benefit of being survivable; just as a television jingle sticks in our heads today, a story that is well laid-out and memorable will make more people want to listen to it, which in turn aids the second of the goals of ancient literature: productivity. These two goals are inextricably linked; without survivability (the ability to pass it on), there obviously cannot be any productivity. Without the productivity, there is no reason to have survivability. Therefore, Id pick a form that is easily remembered and transferred from one to another.
There are many anecdotal similarities that occur in diverse cultures, such as a near-universal story about a great flood (placeholder). Even more