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21st-Century Literary Genres! .☘︎ ݁˖

📜 Literature 101 with SamanthaWritesAboutLit . . .

As technology continues to evolve and transform the world in the 21st century, the ways how people connect also change — and art is not an exception.

Alongside the technologization of communication is the modernization of literature, incorporating it into existing trending media to keep it from dying. The 21st-century readers and writers looked for ways to keep the beauty of art and literature alive amidst technology taking over our lives.

21st-Century Literary Genres! .☘︎ ݁˖

Let me introduce you to some of the many 21st-century literary genres: Talk-Text Novel, Hyper Poetry, and Blog! 🌟

It may be tricky to distinguish which is which and identify them from one another as all use technology and the internet to be published. That is why we are here to discuss the similarities and differences between these three.

❔Let us all first question, what are these three?

💬 Talk-Text Novel

Talk-text novels are stories that are told almost completely in dialogue — simulating social network exchange, using informal language, abbreviations, emojis, timestamps, modern text slang, and sometimes even using the application interface or features. These are presented using visual presentations of the online communication app used. Readers are tasked to interpret the plot and the flow of the story by analyzing the communication that takes place between the characters in the novel. 

Some popular text-talk novels are:

“This Moose Belongs to Me” by Oliver Jeffers

“A Chair for My Mother” by Vera B. Williams

“Flight School” by Lita Judge

💌 And to locals who wish to read these genres in our local language, Vince and Kath by Jenny Ruth Almocera is a popular Filipino Talk-text novel that was later on had a movie adaptation. It is an online romantic series that is written entirely in chat conversations or SMS screenshots.

📲 Hyper Poetry

Hyper poetry, also known as “cyber poems” are poetries found online available on a webpage that makes use of hyperlinks. It includes media such as videos, images, websites, or other poems using hyperlinks. The poetry will have links along the way that when clicked will lead the readers to another media. It creates a non-linear reading experience for readers. This incorporated media heightens the meaning or the message being delivered to the readers. It connects creative works on the internet to create another artwork. 

Some of the Hyper poetry found on the internet are:

“Firefly” by Jennifer Ley

“The Last Day of Betty Nkomo” by Scott Rettberg

“88 Constellations for Wittfenstein” by David Clark

Examples of Hyper poetry are easy to find on online writing platforms as many writers of today’s society have easy internet access.

🖥️Blog

A blog is an informational web page where writers or individuals can informally or casually share their experiences, ideas, or reviews in the form of writing online. These online writers explore a variety of topics to write about, ranging from lifestyle, different destinations around the world or traveling, food reviews, guidebooks to housekeeping, entertainment, and even literature reviews. 

Some popular blogs in the Philippines are:

Panlasang Pinoy: A Filipino cooking blog

YugaTech: A Technlogy blog by Abe Olandres

When In Manila: An entertainment blog about lifestyle and travel

While most popular blogs create their own website to post their content, some apps are already made with well-structured features fit to cater the creative minds of writers. Some of these popular applications are Medium, WordPress, and Tumblr (the one I am using).

🔭 Similarities and Differences ~

Hyper poetry & Blog: can only be read online as it takes advantage of the features of online technology, unlike the text-talk novels that can be printed to a physical book as it only mimics the features of online technology.

Talk-text novels & Hyper poetry: give readers a unique and dynamic reading experience as they make use of the trending features and other existing media on the internet to portray their stories. They are the fusion of classic art of literature combined with the fresh and trendy media of today’s internet. 

Talk-text novel & Blog: very engaging to the readers as the language used is casual and informal like the ones used in our everyday lives. This easily captures the reader’s attention and engagement as it is easier to relate to and does not require deep dissection. 

── .✦ 🖇️

And that is all for our modern and buzzing 21st-century literary genres!

Although different, these literary genres collectively save the survival of literature and make sure that it still prospers alongside the ever-evolving technology of the 21st century. 

Watch out for more of the refreshing literature discussions!