Tyler Gatlin's blog

Can be found here.

Enjoy.

Revision 2 attached.

I realize I haven't posted anything for my part of the project, but not to worry.

I'm bringing everything I have on a flash drive today. I figured it would be easier to work with.

A modern interpretation of T. S.

Literature and the Other Arts--sounded pretty interesting last semester when I was choosing my final semester's classes, so I signed up.

So, I've had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do for my podcast... I really enjoy music and had a hard time deciding on one song to work with.

***For some reason, this page doesn't seem to show my songs when viewed on Internet Expl

I have chosen the character Ulysses, otherwise known as Odysseus, as the basis for my playlist. I am basing my playlist off of the poem “Ulysses”, written by Alfred Tennyson.

Having just returned from his long voyage at sea, the basis of Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses finds himself the ruler of a “savage race, / That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.” The frustration which Ulysses feels as a result of this—being an “idle king” and ruling a “savage race”—was what I wished to base my first song upon.

“The Lodge” - Agalloch

I chose this particular song because I feel that Agalloch was able to create a feeling in their audience that must have been very similar to the way Ulysses must have felt. Agalloch begins their song with the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow, walking towards the listener, by the listener, and then away from the listener. At the same time, Agalloch uses the simple tapping of a woodblock to create a feeling of being alone. The echoes of the taping, combined with the crunching footsteps, along with the minor-key tonality of the song create an overall feeling of loneliness. I would imagine that this is how Ulysses felt, being separated from his ship and the sea, ruling over a “savage race” that knew him not.

Frustrated, Ulysses decides that he cannot “rest from travel,” and begins to look back over his past. Ulysses remembers his many travels with his men, For always roaming with a hungry heart / Much have I seen and known,-- cities of men / And manners, climates, councils, governments.” It is at this point that Ulysses resolves to return to the sea, to “drink life to the lees,” and to return to the times he has “enjoy’d greatly.” I would imagine that Ulysses felt a sense of happiness and relief to have made up his mind to return doing the things that he loved most. For my second song of the playlist, I have chosen Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” as performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

“When the Levee Breaks” – As performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

The song opens with approximately 30 seconds of bustling sounds which evoke images of the many “cities of men / And manners, climates, councils, governments,” that Ulysses must have encountered on his voyages. Immediately following this, an angry tympani starts the music—which is fitting, I believe, because it recalls the anger and frustration of Ulysses. Around the 5:28 mark, the key of the song changes to a much more happy and exuberant sound, as if some unseen burden has been lifted from the orchestra and they can unleash their awesome aural power, much like Ulysses’ decision to leave the “savage race” and “drink life to the lees.”

In class on Thursday, I was in the group which talked about defining literature in terms of "the other arts." My group, for the most part, agreed that literature was something that communicated an idea or created a certain feeling or emotion. I, however, threw the idea out that for something to be literary, it must also involve language, or words, and that these words must have a meaning.

It seems, that most didn't like this idea, and pointed to the fact that musical pieces or works of art also communicate ideas or feelings to their intended audiences. But, in my opinion, this is to say that only literature can create emotions or feelings and that if something creates a feeling or an emotion, then it must be literature.

While I agree that music or art can create emotions or feelings, I feel that this does not classify them as being literary. If something that creates an emotion or feeling within a person is literary, then this slight headache I'm suffering from as I type this must be literary. I must be having a literary experience. And, since I am capable of feeling the pain that the headache is creating, this must mean that I'm a literate person. Perhaps next time I get sick I should email my professors and tell them that I will be unable to attend class as I'm having a literary experience.

Sarcasm aside, I think we need to be careful in defining what literature is. My group seemed content with defining it pretty broadly as something that evokes a feeling or emotion. This would include music and art, as well. But can't music or art stand on their own and be....well, music or art?

I think there is a reason this course is called "Literature and the other arts." If we define literature in the broad sense that most of the posts I have read seemed to do, the course should be called "Literature."

I'm not, however, saying that music or artwork cannot be literary. If they have words or language, which have meaning, then it can be literary. For example:

Literary art: http://www.goodworksonearth.org/moon-shadows-AMERICANS-back-cover-web.jp...
Musical art: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mLj-8MLcnk4 or any other song with words.

I suppose we'll never come up with a clear-cut definition of what literature is, but this is just my two cents.