The Battle between Journalism and - Literature review Example

Journalism and literature Introduction In the recent past, literary journalism has been on a rapid growth in many places, with a lot of criticisms being raised about the essence of journalists turning to become novelists. According to Sims (2007), literary journalisms can be described as the non-fiction which brings together the different aspects of factual reporting and integrating them with various narrative techniques. It also uses the many different stylistic strategies in the field of literature that are often associated with fiction. Some of the people who have pioneered this genre emphasize that literary journalism requires a great immersion in the very difficult and complex subjects. From the writer’s voice, one is meant to get the picture that the author firm on his work (Sims 34). This paper examines the different fictional and non-fictional wirings that have emerged in literary journalism, reflecting on some of the criticisms that have been raised against the genre. The battle between journalism and Literature Currently, it is about five decades since the publication of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, a novel which is known to have sparked a wide debate about whether tactics used in journalism could be used in novel writing (Roggenkamp 56). The idea was that journalism is rich in content that can be effectively integrated in the “non-fictional” writing genre. This great debate that became common between 1960s and 1970 became the centerpiece, the point of discussion in new movement for “New Journalism” (Roggenkamp 78). However, despite the success that had been achieved by Capote in his presumed great “non-fictional novel,” the same was not the case in influencing the thinking about integrating journalism in non-fictional writing. Keeble (2012) observes that from the ancient days in the eighteenth century about Daniel Defoe’s novels and newspaper articles, the relationship that exists among the disciplines of literature and journalism has been highly tension field and greatly interwoven. Almost a decade after the works of Defoe, fiction and fact became highly inseparable in the field of journalism (Dafoe and Landa 45); however, this phenomenon seemed to shift following the industrialized press in the 1800s adopting highly rigid formulas in reporting and finding of facts (Keeble 23). Since the time of commercialization of journals and newspapers, many of the literary writers that had their background in the field of journalism, ranging from Ernest Hemingway to Willa Cather and Mark Twain, have engaged in heavy wresting in order to rub off the restrictions that have been placed on the different methods of reporting and organisation of news in places that they worked (Keeble 59). These people believed that their efforts would help in exploring the many deeper truths and realities through artistic non-fiction and fiction. This was to be done in a manner that was not very possible in many aspects of the conventional journalism across the world. Keeble (2012) says that in 1973, Capote, together with Wolfe were highly accredited for their persistent that led to the launching of the famous movement in the name of “New Journalism.” In their new movement, the novelists claimed that the contemporary novelists had greatly abandoned the field of realism and let the field free of the “New Journalism,” which would see many journalists venturing to make their contests in non-fiction. This kind of writing about events and happenings in the real world, according to Wolfe and Capote were beyond fictional writing as shown in many of the novels that were coming up. In their perspective, they seemed to emphasize the fact that journalists becoming novelists could be a big step in highlighting actual events and stories that would inspire and educate people, besides entertaining them. They claimed that this non-fictional writing conveyed a lot of important social truths as well as a very deep human reality, which is healthy in any human environment. The undeclared war Prof. Underwood, one of the people that have been active in advocating for the “New Journalism” movement stressed that so far, a great competition exists between “literary” or “new” journalists as well as the many contemporary novelists in order to win the hearts of the many lovers highly realistic literature (Bak 43). His main point of focus in this analysis is on the efforts being made by journalists he describes as “genre straddling” like Wolfe and Capote among many others. The professor explains that it is very imperative that non-fiction and creative writing should be considered with great respect among scholars as a great way of communicating and expressing realistic fiction (Bak 51). Aspects of creating non-fiction writing Many of the journalists that converted to actively venture in the non-fiction writing have often given various aspects of this genre, which are aimed at encouraging the acceptance of this genre among scholars and lovers of realistic fiction. In order for any text to be regarded as being non-fiction, it is supposed to be very correct in terms of the facts it presents. The main of non-fiction writing in this case is to provide information to people, which is not very different from the actual reporting. However, in the process of writing, the content has to be designed in a manner that is in tandem with literary techniques and styles, something that opposers to this movement claim that is not possible with journalists,. Most of whom they say do not have a literature background. Therefore, the person doing the non-fictional writing has to ensure that he shapes piece of writing in order to appear more fictional (Crane para 23). Crane (2012) observes that besides these basic requirements, non-fictional writing is said to have the same responsibilities as those of the short stories and novels in shaping the experience in a manner that does not end up disinteresting the reader. Criticisms against non-fictional writing Much debate has been experienced in the past about the need to accept non-fictional writing as an important genre that fits consideration among scholars. Bak (2011) points out that Barbara Lounsberry, one of the major critics of this genre says that in when it comes to journalists turning to become novelists, their subject matter that is documentable is often selected from many of the real happenings in the actual world, which is contrary to the writers own mental invention in fictional writing. Therefore many of the topics that are discussed in non-fictional writing are those existing in the real world, which may be quite hard for the journalist to fit in the stylistic techniques in order to make it appeal to the reader. In the previous case, fictional writings have often been preferred by readers because the techniques used by writers arouse interests in the minds of the readers, who often want to know the next event. With non-fictional writing, the reader may have a background information to the story, which makes him understand the whole story without even reading it in totality. However, Lounsberry acknowledges that the extensive research that goes into non-fictional writing by the journalist making the non-fictional work is essential in providing verifiable references for the particular texts being developed (Bak 87). In non-fictional writing, it is sometimes quite difficult to describe the genre itself because of “the scene.” In fictional writing, the essence of revivifying and describing the particular contexts of actual events is very important. However, this is contrary to the non-fictional writing where journalistic styles of reporting happen to be very objective. This important aspect of fictional writing is often hard to achieve by journalists that may decide to venture in non-fictional writing; their literary works are often lacking in suspense among many other stylistic techniques, which are crucial in any successful fictional writing. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge the fact that just like the business environment; literature is also a discipline that is also very dynamic. Therefore, there should not be any restrictions towards journalists turning to be novelists, after all people’s tastes and preferences in reading, just like in consumption are different and keep on changing. The field of literature needs to accept the fact that as generations come and go; new genres like literary journalism are going to emerge with their own group of readers Works Cited Bak, John S. Literary Journalism across the Globe: Journalistic Traditions and Transnational Influences. Amherst: U of Massachusetts, 2011. Print. Crane Stephen. The Open Boat. 2011. Web. 28 April 2015. Dafoe Daniel and Landa Louis A. A journal of the Plague. New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. Print. Keeble, Richard. Global Literary Journalism: Exploring the Journalistic Imagination. New York: Peter Lang, 2012. Print. Roggenkamp, Karen. Narrating the News New Journalism and Literary Genre in Late Nineteenth-century American Newspapers and Fiction. Kent, Ohio: Kent State UP, 2005. Print. Sims, Norman. True Stories: A Century of Literary Journalism. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 2007. Print. Read More