Moretti's Approach to Literature

Franco Moretti’s “Graphs, Maps, Trees” determines to find cycles in literary history regarding novel genres throughout different time periods in different countries. He does so by building on work from other researchers and analyzing graphs that show the fluctuations of novels in different times. This kind of approach to literature has its benefits because the quantitative work is cooperative. It is ideally independent from any individual researcher because it is a collective system. This quantitative approach is useful because thousands of novels have been published, making it nearly impossible to do close readings on it due to time constraints. We cannot simply connect separate bits of knowledge about distinct cases because they must be understood as being collective. It must be seen as a whole, and graphs are an effective way to study this.

This quantitative research provides data that is ideally independent of interpretations. This is beneficial because it offers an objective viewpoint regarding novels. However, this method is also a drawback. It provides data, but not interpretations. Although we can deduce the number of novels produced and when they were produced, we cannot determine why they were produced during that time from these graphs. We can find the values from graphs, but they give no insight to the reasons behind the values. Also, this approach to literature is based solely from an objective viewpoint, giving no subjective perspective towards the literature.

Other interdisciplinary projects that combine literature with social sciences would be observing the historical events occurring simultaneously with the time periods of the novels’ fluctuations. One could examine the relationship between a country’s political issues and the number of novels produced in that country. Or one could study the social movements within a country and how it affects the production and fluctuation patterns of books and its genres. This can be done by grouping novels into different genres and examining the contents within the books.

A method of approaching SSTLS would be to observe the prevalence of social issues during its time of publication. This novel satirizes the issues of today’s culture. By taking into account the topics covered in the book, such as the political, social, and technological issues, we can better understand the meanings behind the novel and the different references it makes throughout the book. We can then compare the novel’s genre to other genres of the same time period and see if it reveals a bigger picture that pertains to the social movement of our time.

SSTLS Character Development

In my opinion, Eunice does not show any development at all. She continually uses men as resources and only stays with them when she needs something. Ben (the man she was with in Rome) bought her things and provided for her, but she left due to her insecurities. She then got with Lenny because he offered her a place to stay and gave her his love. Afterwards she dumps him for Joshie because he is a powerful man with money and resources. In the end, she once again continues her circular pattern by leaving Joshie and staying with a man in London.

Not only does Eunice give up on her relationships, but she also continues to give up on her education. Throughout the story, her mother repeatedly urges her to get better scores on her LSATs, but she never goes around to taking them again. In the end of the book, after having spent only one semester in college at London, she again gives up on her education and drops out.

In the beginning of the book, Eunice is seen in Rome, far away from her family. She goes back home to take care of her family, but this is only temporary because she is a person who easily gives up. Although she “promises” to be there for her family, she of course leaves them and instead lives in London with a Scotsman. For someone who supposedly loves and cares about her family, she is rarely ever with them. She wasn’t there for them while in Rome. Even when she came back home to America, she spent the majority of her time with Lenny in New York. And now she is once again gone, this time in London. These reasons show that she does not change as a person.

In my opinion, I thought that the only character in SSTLS who really developed was Lenny. His attitudes towards life changed. In the end of the novel, he realized that he would one day die. By facing his mortality and accepting his death, he was no longer living in an illusion. Also, when he found out about Eunice and Joshie’s relationship, he didn’t resort to his usual begging and pleading. In this scene, he shows a great deal of strength and growth.

Throughout the book we do not see much interaction between Lenny and his parents, but he really does love and care for them. It is near the end of the book when we see Lenny’s love and vulnerable side towards his parents. He feels a pang of guilt and hurt when he realizes that his parents are starving, so he buys them food to show his love. His parents show their appreciation for him, but Lenny is careful not to get too close to them because “where my parents come from, openness can also mean weakness, an invitation to pounce” (292).

“Before I was even born, I had dragged my parents away from Moscow, a city where engineer Papa didn’t have to overturn wastebaskets for a living…and one day God would punish me for what I had done to them” (324). This passage gives us a glimpse of Lenny’s guilt for tearing his parents from their homeland. He loved them “so much it could have been qualified as child abuse” (324), so he strays from them in order to prevent himself from getting hurt. He also blames himself for their misfortunes in America and theorizes that God will punish him by one day killing his parents. Although this deep fear of their death pushes him away from his parents, he still loves them in his own way.

The Issues in M Butterfly

M Butterfly left me feeling a little surprised, somewhat disturbed, and fairly unsure of how to process the movie. Even though I was uncomfortable with some of the materials presented, the movie did bring up some interesting topics. The issue of gender was mysterious and unsuspected due to the different gender roles in the movie. The plot is somewhat similar to the opera, Madame Butterfly, in which an American man leaves his Japanese wife to marry an American woman. However, the gender and ethnic roles are switched in the movie. The main character, Rene, ends up resembling Madame Butterfly, and the woman, Song (who ends up being a man in disguise), resembles the American man who betrayed his wife. This is so because Song lied and deceived Rene concerning his real gender and identity. In the end, Rene takes his own life, just as Madame Butterfly had done when she discovered her husband’s betrayal.

Song brought up the idea that men played women in plays because only a man knows what men want. He used this to deceive Rene for political reasons because he needed information about Rene to help the Chinese government. This deceit used to gain political power removes the humanity from Song’s character because he uses trickery to get what he wants. Song had an advantage because being a man himself, he knew how men think and act. He also used ethnicity to help deceive Rene. He knew that Rene did not know much about Chinese culture or history, so he was able to make up excuses that would protect his true identity. For example, Rene never saw Song naked because he claimed that Chinese women were extremely modest.

Song also brought up an interesting issue concerning the ethnicity roles in Madame Butterfly. Because it was a Japanese woman who killed herself over an American man, Westerners perceive the opera as being tragic and beautiful. However, if the roles were reversed and it was an American woman who committed suicide over an Asian man, Westerners would see her as being stupid and absurd. These different views reflect the varying perceptions between ethnicities. This opera signifies the history and importance of the arts because it reveals how different ethnicities perceive art based on past history and culture. Art, such as operas and plays, can relate to the real world and offer answers in times of uncertainty and difficulty.

SSTLS Passages

“‘You’ve got to stop buying books, Nee-gro,’ Vishnu said. ‘All those doorstops are going to drag down your PERSONALITY rankings’” (90).

This passage relates to the theme (Literacy and/or Literature in the Online Social Network Era) because in this time period, there are very few people who still read books in the traditional sense (meaning in the physical form). Books are hardly regarded as important, necessary or common. Instead, they are seen as objects that hinder one’s social mobility. This is shown clearly when Vishnu comments that the books would only drag down Lenny’s personality levels, making him less desirable to others. Also, Vishnu refers to the books as mere doorstops, implying their insignificance in this world and is ignorant of their importance. This passage stands out because it satirizes today’s issue regarding the increase use of the internet and the decrease of literature.

“She looked at my Wall of Books with a neutral expression, although by now my volumes mostly stank of Pine-Sol Wild Flower Blast and not their natural printed essence” (102).

This passage reveals how out of place books are in this time period. By covering up the books’ natural scent, Lenny is trying to conceal a part of himself. Perhaps he is self-conscious of its unnatural smell to others or maybe he does not want Eunice criticizing his collection. Whatever the reason, this act reveals the uncommon place that books have in this time period. This passage stands out because even though Lenny tries to mask the books’ natural smell, he cannot hide his love for books. He describes the books’ scent as a “natural printed essence,” whereas he uses the word “stank” to describe the Pine-Sol. This further shows how Lenny, just like books, is from a different time.

“I thought Ben was really brain-smart because I saw him streaming Chronicles of Narnia in that café in Rome, but this Tolsoy was a thousand pages long BOOK, not a stream, and Lenny was on page 930, almost finished” (144).

This is another passage that reveals how misplaced books are in this time. In a world where everything is streamed online, there is little space for literature that is not digitalized. It shows that the mere act of streaming something is an impressive feat of its own, so actually reading a thousand page book is beyond comprehension. This surprise towards reading illustrates the irrelevant position that books now hold. The passage stands out because it shows a rare moment where Eunice seems mildly impressed, to say the least, of Lenny’s treasured hobby. She somewhat compliments his incredible feat, reinforcing the notion that literature is nearly nonexistent in this online era.