I do not maintain my own personal Instagram, but choose
instead to follow others. By doing so I see the stories of so many others lives
with clear (or not depending on the filter) images without ever needing to read
a word. While Clarissa uses it’s own form of letter writing as a way to tell a
story, Instagram relies on pictures.
During the 1700’s pictures were merely paintings, nothing technological
necessary, but much time was needed. In today’s society computers and
cellphones have taken over. Going farther than that, they have taken the need
for words away. However, stories can be told in more ways than just by using
physical language, as picture books are an indication. Instagram is the new age
picture book for an older generation.
One recurring use for Instagram that has been used is the
depiction of daily meals. That’s right, something as boring and unnecessary to
share with the general public. While Clarissa
takes about societal and familial struggles and ultimately the end of her life,
Instagramers focus on what they eat. They take pictures of their food, put a
filter on (because that obviously makes it more artistic), and then post it for
the entire world to see. The narrative
created by these pictures is nothing meaningful, but rather insignificant,
which is further proved by the lack of words. The beginning is breakfast and
the end is dessert. The events are cyclical and there are always new pictures
of a new meal.
Instagram functions as epistolary form because, while food
is visually being shared, there is still a story behind it. The sharer’s appetite
and photography ability is telling the story of what they go through at certain
times of the day.
While Instagram tells more stories than just food, I chose
to focus on it to relay the extreme difference between the writing style used
in Clarissa in which more pressing
matters are at hand.
I agree with you that the issues in Clarissa are much more demanding than those on Instagram; however the issues in Clarissa are fictitious. One might wonder how engaging letter writing actually was for the average educated white woman in Richardson’s time. Maybe they shared mundane details about their breakfasts in their correspondence? I would assume that they didn’t quite as much as Instagram users today because writing and mailing a letter takes a lot more time and effort than snapping a picture and adding a filter, but it’s a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Instagram is a valid form of epistolary communication and writing. Even though mainly expressed in images, the publisher of the photos can also add text explaining the reason behind the image, often expressed through short quotes and hashtags. (a work expressed with a # in front of it).
ReplyDeleteI think your post was very different from the rest, because you used pictures to relate back to epistolary form. A lot of times we don't realize that pictures say a thousands words. When we look at pictures we typically take away from what we want. It may not be the same story that everyone else visualizes, but it is a story.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that pictures can tell stories and that they're told a lot faster now than a few centuries ago. However I don't believe that it makes the story behind the picture any less significant just because it's inanimate. Pictures on instagram such as food can be an art form that relies on the viewer's imagination to fill in the story line. Who made the meal? What inspired them or brought them to make it? Is this the cook's way of expressing themself? Did they make this for someone specific? The colors of the food can express emotion - the velvety red syrup, swivels of chocolate against the melting vanilla ice cream. It could be a way to seduce.
ReplyDeleteClarissa is a tell all of emotion and cyclical events that does create images but they aren't as tangible as a picture of modern day. Instagram pictures and the like stand alone, play on the viewers' senses and imagination immediately whereas the traditional epistolary style doesn't. Clarissa is very wordy and drawn out and though it inspires feeling in the reader, it takes more time to establish its significance. In these instagram pictures, I know instantly what I'm thinking of - how lush the food looks and that I want to try it. In Clarissa's letters I have to wait on her to say what's going on and what makes it meaningful to her, other characters, and me as a readers.
I like how you use Instagram as an example of an epistolary form because although I have never thought of it in this way, I agree. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words right? Therefore, pictures may be able to tell your story or the message of your letter even better than words could. The only way in which this becomes problematic is that when you post a picture you are leaving the message or interpretation up to the viewer. When you write a letter or tell a story you are conveying the message exactly how you want to listener to perceive it.
ReplyDeleteBeth and all--You have an interesting point about the relative labor intensity of older vs. newer epistolary forms, and I think that this "labor time" might have something to do with how significant/insignificant we think the material is. Imagine, for instance, how long it would take the keep up correspondence in the way that the characters in Clarissa do -- realistically, you could be writing letters all day! The fact that we have the means of immediately taking a picture (vs. painting or sketching it, or writing a description), means that we can document all kinds of things. Is it the case that we have a wider "net" for what gets documented and disseminated? Does this allow us to subject more topics and objects to the artful eye (like food photos)?
ReplyDeleteOverall, there is something to be said about the increased immediacy of new epistolary forms and the relatively small amount of labor that we need to put into them... is this changing what we think is "worthwhile" material? (Because remember that the novel itself took on relatively homely topics, vs. the fantastic matters of earlier romances!).
Beth and all--You have an interesting point about the relative labor intensity of older vs. newer epistolary forms, and I think that this "labor time" might have something to do with how significant/insignificant we think the material is. Imagine, for instance, how long it would take the keep up correspondence in the way that the characters in Clarissa do -- realistically, you could be writing letters all day! The fact that we have the means of immediately taking a picture (vs. painting or sketching it, or writing a description), means that we can document all kinds of things. Is it the case that we have a wider "net" for what gets documented and disseminated? Does this allow us to subject more topics and objects to the artful eye (like food photos)?
ReplyDeleteOverall, there is something to be said about the increased immediacy of new epistolary forms and the relatively small amount of labor that we need to put into them... is this changing what we think is "worthwhile" material? (Because remember that the novel itself took on relatively homely topics, vs. the fantastic matters of earlier romances!).