The Aesthetic Qualities of Human Language - Essay Example

Reproduction of Poetry Poetry utilizes the aesthetic qualities of human language, together with or instead of the notional and semantic content of language. It is considered an art form, as it involves literary or oral works, where language is utilized in a different manner as used in prose. In poetry, feelings and ideas are expressed through use of unique styles and rhythm. These and other characteristics of poetry make it qualify as an art form. There are other different art forms today, including painting and photography, among others. Art is faced with a myriad of challenges. However, the major challenge that has raised controversy is reproduction of art. There are different views on whether art should be reproduced. While some views are in support of reproduction of art, others have sharply criticised it. Nonetheless, with regard to poetry, reproduction of poetry holds many benefits, and these are in relation to reaching mass audiences, as well as maintaining the aura and originality of the original work. Many writers have written different articles to express their views and arguments on reproduction of art. This paper bases on a major work of Davis Douglas, “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” that was published in 1995. This is the primary source in this paper. The views of Davis are analysed, and by use of a secondary source; “Sona Books,” by Magi Jill, it will be possible to determine ways through which reproduction of poetry benefits the authors and audiences without distorting the original work. While Davis in his article supports reproduction of art, Mag focuses on the challenges of publishing poetry, and the overall low popularity of the literature genre. Davis supports reproduction of art by basing on important aspects of art, which he proves that reproduction does not influence them in any adverse manner. For instance, Davis focuses on the aura of the work. He argues that reproduction does not betray the aura of the original work, but instead, it enhances it (381). Therefore, the same applies to poetry, as it is an art form. When poems are reproduced, slight changes might be made to the original work. However, this does destroy the quality of the original work. Instead the quality is enhanced, as sometimes reproduced works might be better than original works. It is also possible to argue that the aura of an art work does not lie in the art work, but is determined by the audience. Therefore, the aura and uniqueness of an art work is determined by the art world and its critiques of the art work. Basing on this view therefore, it is important that Mag publishes and distributes more poems to reach more people through the internet, as there are no risks posed on the aura and the originality of the poems. The internet plays an important role in the modern world. This has also contributed largely to the aspect of reproduction of art. In his article, Davis also realizes the role of the internet in reproduction of art. He argues that today, different people of varying professions, including writers, salesmen, artists, investors, and philosophers, among others, have embraced the use of internet in their day to day lives (385). On the internet, people can access wide volume of knowledge, including knowledge on art. The internet therefore, promotes mass producing of art, as all art objects can be distributed through the internet. Nonetheless, when poetry is distributed over the internet, a major benefit is that it can reach a wide audience. This therefore democratizes poetry, as everyone can view it, and does not marginalize the original poetry. According to Magi Jill, as compared to other literary works, poetry has had a challenge when it comes to the utilization of the internet to reach wider audiences (Web). Although most poets might for various reasons be reluctant to have their works put on the internet, these should be encouraged, basing on the views of Davis Douglas. Poetry on the internet could address a range of topics, and does not have to be specific. In this case, the poetry on the internet will receive a wide audience, including people of different professions, as well as non-writers, due to the diversity of topics in the presented poetry. This will therefore, help to popularize the genre. As much as Davis supports the reproduction of art work through the internet, there are some aspects that might make this inappropriate. In the case of poetry, when poems are posted online, this might be done with a different goal, apart from attracting a large audience to the poems. Another goal of posting poems online would be based on economic reasons. In this case, poems can be contextualized on the internet in the same way other goods and services are contextualized for shopping. Like other art forms, poems can be used as icons for selling different products. This therefore, means that the disposability of such online poetry is fast, since there are other alternatives for users. Nevertheless, this aspect might not affect poetry as much as it does other art forms that are based on images only. Therefore, the main reason and benefit of posting poetry online is reaching a wide audience. In a different view, posting poems online might be based on economic reasons that are beneficial to the audience, publishers, as well as poets. For instance, Mag (Web) uses the subscription model when posting poems online. In this case, there is considerable financial output that is linked with posting poetry online. Apart from benefiting the publisher of poetry only, this could extend to the poets too. In this case, people accessing the poetry could be made to pay a fee before downloading some poems. This therefore, would be encouraging to the poets as well. In the article, Davis considers that liberation of the inner self can only occur when everyone can talk to everyone (385). This applies to the use of the internet today. Through the internet, people all over the world can communicate. Therefore, art that is shared on the internet can lead to important forums among art lovers from different parts of the world. Similarly, there are many lovers of poetry in different regions of the world. Therefore, reproducing poems and posting them online might have a significant social impact on the lovers of poems across the world. This unchains the lovers of poetry and opens them up to shared knowledge on poetry. In the case of Magi, since the target of her publishing is a diverse group of people, these might form important online discussions, where they share knowledge and experiences in poetry. On the other hand, reproduction of art can occur in diverse ways. Davis argues that reproduction of art leads to infinite forms of art (382). A comparison of the analog signals and digital messages shows quite a lot of differences as well as different effects after reproduction. Today, there is a high level of digitalization, as opposed to the analog past. Therefore, in the past, reproduction of art, for instance copying an analog signal or video signal would involve loss of clarity (Davis 382). However, today, digitalization has helped to address this challenge. Therefore, today, reproduction of art is quite perfect, and does not lead to distortion of the original work. In the case of poetry therefore, in this present digital age, poetry can be reproduced effectively, without involving any aspect of degradation. Original poems written on paper can be scanned and presented digitally, and can as well be recited and recorded. This way, the meaning of the original poem does not change, though the presentation changes. Therefore, although Magi (Web) notes challenges in publishing poetry, it is important that these are addressed, so that poetry as a genre can also experience the benefits of reproduction of art. When art is reproduced, sometimes there is deconstruction of meaning. Davis argues that, “When I deconstruct meaning, I recreate it within a subjective context that is inevitably unique, no matter how ordered or predestined” (385). This shows that although there is the possibility of deconstruction of meaning during reproduction of art, this does not imply that the uniqueness of the original art is lost. However, reproduction of art in this case means that the person reproducing the art does so basing on their own unique feelings and views, which they integrate in the original art work. Similarly, the same might happen in reproduction of poetry. In this case, the original poetry is integrated with new feelings and views to come up with another unique form of the original poetry. Davis argues that in the present age, although copying and reproduction of art is widespread, the aspect of aura is still highly valued. However, he is of the view this needs transformation, in order to shield from possible assault from digitalization (386). Aura, according to Davis, is not found in the art work, “but in the originality of the moment when we see, hear, read, repeat, revise” (386). In this regard, reproducing poetry can be considered important for new poets. When learners of poetry reproduce poems, especially those by classical poets; this acts as a learning tool for them to gain a deeper understanding of poetry techniques. Therefore, as Mag (Web) notes, the intention of posting poems online is to reach a wide audience, this could also serve to help new poets access poems and learn from them, even through reproducing them. In conclusion, this paper has focused on the issue of reproducing poetry. Reference has been made to Davis Douglas’ article on art reproduction in the digital age. Using the primary and secondary source, it has been established in this paper that reproduction of poetry is important, as it holds many benefits for poets, publishers, as well as the audiences, and does not devalue original poems. The internet has also been identified as playing an important role, as far as reproduction of poetry is concerned. The aspects of aura and originality in poems have been considered to be subjective, but remain important in the present age of art reproduction. Works Cited Davis Douglass. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo, 28 (5), Third Annual New York Digital Salon. pp. 381-386. Magi Jill. “Sona Books.” Web. Read More