Literature has played a major role across societies globally. Through literature, societies can trace back their origin and, like DNA, their behavior will hold similarities to those of their predecessors. In the following paragraphs, we will check out various social factors that influences literature.
According to Wikipedia, society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.
Certain factors are important in understanding societies and literature. These factors include language, economy, law, education, emerging trends, technology, culture, religion, entertainment, politics, and relationships.
Additionally, any shift in the social construct of people could be reflected in their literature. Thus, we will see how various social factors have influenced literature.
How Language Influences Literature
Language is a means by which people communicate verbally or in writing. Language may also be influenced by customs, inter-relations, or colonization.
One of the periods in English literature in parallel with its social dilemma is the Middle English period. The period is that of Anglo-French literature where French is reflected in the literature of Britain. This is the period when the Normans and English literature were merged between the 11th and 13th centuries.
In other parts of the world like Nigeria, English is the official language that is spoken and written following the British colonization.
How the Economy Influences Literature
The economic makeup of any society is primed by its sociology. Society holds stakes as consumers of goods and also as employees of literature.
Any given consumer in a society is a potential stakeholder in the economy. Factors such as mass affordability, utility, and preferences may determine the success of any given product in circulation. These factors are directly linked to the consumer and need to be constantly fed back to the production institutions. They lean on literary content such as survey reports, statistical data, and well-articulated societal perceptions to make informed decisions concerning their products.
Additionally, literature is fast becoming an employer of people. In an era of internet affordability and high competition in the employment sector, people have discovered remote work as a means of obtaining income. Recognizing this, institutions invest in paid or unpaid literary contests and content submissions in an effort to motivate society into participating in a ‘We rub each other’s backs’ situation. Interested institutions could be policy-making bodies, NGOs, blogs and websites,
How the Law Influences Literature
When it comes to writing, there is no one size fits all. Notwithstanding, every aspect of writing maintains a unique approach in the way it presents ideas, problems, and solutions. There is a close relationship between the courtroom and argumentative essay. One is practical and the other is theoretical. So naturally, the latter will inform the former.
If there’s one thing the courtroom has willed argumentative writing, it is this. Facts alone cannot triumph against human nature when you are writing about why divorced women deserve a better place in society. Emotions need to be evoked and perspectives that favor the argumentative needs to be pinpointed. Infact, the pen needs to bleed because readers are considered to be judge and jury.
Authors like John Grisham, a successful lawyer and a novelist, he is famous for his integration of the law into his writings.
How Education Influences Literature
Fields across medicine, law, engineering, architecture, and other science, art, and technical courses all fall under departments where producing academic literature is mandatory for the acquisition of academic awards.
The education system shapes these literary pieces to be able to contribute to knowledge through writing templates followed by students and scholars all over the world
If one looks closer, one can see that the structural methodology of these literary pieces follows a pattern where the average human mind is able to transition from a problem to a solution. This pattern is also applicable to non-academic writeups like essays which are not so different in structure from each other.
How Emerging Trends Influence Literature
As the world becomes more open-minded and receptive towards social labels, values, and change, so does its literature.
The literature of today, especially found in mass media, is inclusive of these changes and adaptations. To omit it totally to an extent is injustice, as described by those passionate about the cause.
One can find boldly written in caps lock, on front pages and designated media, literature relating to content the new world embraces, which may have been hidden or absent beforehand.
How Technology Influences Literature
It is an era of search engines, social media, and artificial intelligence. The internet and other technological advancements continue to shape the way people think and perceive the world
People are fast moving towards utilizing the internet as a means of accessing literary content. Whether out of sheer curiosity or solution hunting, millions of people engage the internet as a fast means of obtaining information. Search engines serve as an encyclopedia of interests for users. This heightens the need for SEO content by writers. SEO content helps people access the information they desire. Recognizing this, monetized blogs and websites are ready to satisfy the cravings of these net surfers by engaging SEO writers.
Social media is a platform for online socialization and over the years, content creators on social media have been in constant competition to outdo each other in conjuring entertaining content. Literature is not left behind. Literature on social media continues to be threatened by more visually appealing content, Long essays are being reduced to bite-sized insights, and poetry to spoken words.
We may like to admit it or not. but the introduction of A.I pose a revolution in the literary world. As more people engage platforms like Chat-GTP, the output of writers and non-writers continues to stand on shaky grounds.
How Culture and Religion Influence Literature
Any given society is morally guided by directives laid out by religion and culture. Where societies are multi-religious or multi-cultural, the inhabitants of that society must learn to coexist harmoniously. Doing this arrests any potential red sparks of inter-tribal or inter-religious unrest.
Literature likewise, circulating within and around the boundaries of societies must avoid the ticking bomb of unrest waiting to be set off by degrading or offensive content. Literature, therefore, presents its ideas within context-sensitive to societal reactivity.
How Entertainment Influences Literature
People love to be entertained now and then. Dance, music, and drama are all forms of performing arts that have been driving the motor of entertainment. This is evolving with technological advancements and social changes.
Literature plays a vital role in the creation of these performances as songwriters, and scriptwriters factor in the appeals, criticisms, and suggestions of consumers in crafting pieces filling the gap created by emotional and technical reviews of the society or consumers.
How Politics Influences Literature
Visualize politics to be a model. When this model walks the runway, all eyes follow – reveling in the outlook created by its designers. The goal is to admire the model on the runway and not inquire what goes beyond it. A directive the journalistic field of literature is in constant ruse with.
The cat-and-mouse game between politics and literature has been going on for decades. Attempts of journalists to peek behind the scenes or maul the model for hidden flaws continue to be challenged by the proprietors of societal politics – each one desperately trying to win over the other.
As lines continue to be crossed, we hope that the onlookers are able to distinguish between the illusions and reality of these two enmities.
How Relationship Influences Literature
Society is made up of several kinds of relationships. There are those who are related by blood and there are those who are not. Often, the two will intertwine to form other kinds of relationships which may be romantic or not.
Romantic relationships in societies may exist within or outside the marriage institution. Such relationships are the seeds with which societies continue to exist. It is true, literature has been in a relationship with the affairs of the heart. It is what people crave and what literates are honored to produce.
Bards like William Wordsworth and novelists like Samuel Richardson were authors in the Romantic age of literature. Centuries before had prominent authorship of Williams Shakespeare. Centuries later, authors such as Nora Roberts among others continue the pace of breathing life into literature with themes of love and romance.
There is no end in sight to the matrimony between literature and societal relationships. Romance continues to be the most popular genre of literature in the world.
Conclusion
Literature moves with society because people are the consumers of literature. There is no severing the ties of kinship between the two. As people become more intentional about what they wish to consume, the bond between literature and society continues to thicken. Each in a continuous attempt to superimpose the other in order to maintain a delicate balance between the realities of life and the conjurings of the mind.
