Literary trends in Cyber Space: Portrayal of the Metamodern “wings of Poesy”

Abstract

English literature, after sailing through different courses down the history, has now entered a new space, which may affect its further cruise. The growth of technological space has given rise to a new genre called cyber literature, which plays a significant role in the promotion of literary works. Cyber literature refers to written literary texts, distributed and read on electronic screens. This electronic space provides a more flexible and convenient platform for the artistic expressions of aspiring and budding authors. Cyber literature which emerged towards the end of the 1990s through blogging, later expanded in social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Myspace etc. While the means and modes of expression changed, literature was again moulded into something else, satisfying the needs of a modern reader. This paper explores the possibility of social media and online communities as the new alternative to print publication, and it also aims at studying the present and upcoming literary trends in the cyber space through a few examples. The case study includes an analysis of the works of Rupi Kaur, an author who paved her way for fame using Instagram; Terribly Tiny Tales and other pages in Facebook which seized the young hearts with relatable snippets and prose poems; applications like “Haiku jam” which bring together people from all over the world to write a Haiku in unison. The modern generation which upgrades their lifestyle along with the technological evolution, and the contemporary issues that affect them, brings out a new literary culture. The unrestrained author-reader interaction further decreases the former gap which held back the readers from voicing their opinions. While it possesses both positive and negative effects, it creates a space where everyone can be a writer, though only the fittest will survive.