New Approach to Literature

         Within his article, "Graphs, Maps, Trees," Franco Moretti explains the literary field's shift from the close-reading approach to the use of abstract models; specifically, he describes the benefits and drawbacks of using a quantitative approach to literature. In addition, Moretti comments on the popularity of novels and specific genres throughout different countries and time periods and portrays these patterns on the graphs he includes within his paper.

          One of the main benefits of the quantitative approach is its independence from any interpretations or perspectives from people. As a result, the analysis of literature would be solely dependent on actual facts and historical patterns displayed on the graphs, which present data about the literary trends throughout history in a organized and concise manner. From these visual representations, people are able to deduce the relationships between the popularity of a genre and the political situation within a specific country. In addition, the graphs allow for the comparison of different genres and the popularity of literary work in different countries.

         Despite the benefits of this approach, there are also several negative aspects to it as well; specifically, the absence of opinion from the analysis of literary works. Literary novels are meant to inspire different perceptions and meanings in people; the creativity of novels allows for the discovery of new perspectives and understandings of the same story by different people or even the same person after he or she rereads a novel. The literary field is one filled with imagination and should not only be limited to the analysis of patterns throughout history.

         Another interdisciplinary project would be to combine literature with the social aspects of the world. For instance, the popularity of specific genres - or novels in general - rely partly on the prevalent trends or movements during a specific period. Consequently, the relationships between people, different countries, and contrasting cultures all contribute to the varying patterns for literary pieces.

        A new way of approaching Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story would be to analyze the technological trends within our world over different periods of time. By graphing the data that describes the rise and fall of society's use of technology, we could analyze the patterns of how influential technology has been in our society and since when; these results could reveal how technologically dependent people have become.

The Controversial Madame Butterfly

            Madame Butterfly is a unique film that incorporates the issues of gender, ethnicity, politics, and arts within it. Originally, the story of Madame Butterfly began as an opera and depicts the tragic demise of a young Japanese girl who takes her own life after her American husband abandons her. Ultimately, this story demonstrates the conventional belief of Western and male superiority. As the Chinese protagonist within the film explains, if the tale of Madame Butterfly was applied to a Caucasian female and an Oriental man, Westerns would no longer perceive it as a beautiful love story; rather, they would think that the entire situation is ridiculous, which demonstrates the conventional Western belief of superiority above all other ethnicities. However, the makers of the film chose to challenge the typical stereotypes for both gender and ethnicity by portraying a Chinese "woman" as the dominant partner within the relationship between an Oriental and a Caucasian, who eventually commits suicide after losing his love.

             Although it might appear that the European male is in control of the relationship, the Oriental "female" is actually manipulating their entire affair so that she can acquire top-secret information about America's operations in China. As a result, the French protagonist's love for the Chinese opera singer blinds him from seeing the truth - that he is simply a pawn within the political struggles of China and America, which seeks dominance over the eastern nations.

            In addition, the film touches upon the Chinese people's recognition of all arts and the history of arts within China. For instance, despite the Chinese people's immense hatred towards the Japanese, they are still willing to perform pieces that include Japanese people; this demonstrates how the Chinese appreciate all forms of art, despite the country they belong to or describe. However, the film also shows how there was a period of time when artists were persecuted because the government did not believe that they were actually contributing to the advancement of their nation. As a result, artists were forced into manual labor and barred from their original creative occupations.

            Overall, the film does a good job with incorporating the political dilemmas between the East and the West within a controversial, tragic love story.

The Consumer Culture

            Within his newly-released novel, Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart conveys a radically embellished portrayal of the consumer culture to demonstrate the world's increasing obsession with manufactured products. Through this depiction, Shteyngart illustrates that as people become more absorbed with consumerism, they begin to lose their own identity and gradually perceive other individuals as mere commercial entities.

            For instance, Lenny begins to experience anxiety-issues about his Credit after returning from Rome and learning about his demotion at work. Through his belief that "money equals life," we can see the extent to which money's role within the world has been magnified (77). Although money has always been a significant factor within a person's life, it has now become the means to which a person can extend his or her life - perhaps even indefinitely; for within the world that Shteyngart creates, even immortality can be achieved by those who have enough money. Despite the wondrous possibility of living forever, the idea that money has become such a valued entity within the world is overwhelming and poses the prospects of many future conflicts between people and different nations.

            Another incident that demonstrates the consequences of a consumer culture is when Lenny first learns how to FAC - form a community. After learning about his incredibly low physical appeal, Lenny is devastated and realizes that "money and credit was about all [he] had" (91). Through his experience at the club, Lenny starts to understand that money is the only reason that girls would be attracted to him. No longer do people really care about personality or individuality, as long as a person is unattractive, money is the only trait that matters.

            Finally, one last example of a consumer culture's effects on society is when Lenny introduces Eunice to his friends. Although Lenny originally believes that Eunice will easily befriend his friends, Grace ends up criticizing Eunice for her complex for money. In response, Lenny argues that "she [only] shops because [the] society is telling Asian people to shop" (162). In addition to revealing Eunice's infatuation with shopping and spending money, this quote also illustrates the depravity of the economy's current state. Due to America's necessary dependence on China, Americans begin to despise Asians for their nation's growing prosperity. As a result, they begin directing their anger at all Asians without even considering the fact that most Asians still live in poverty. Overall, Gary Shteyngart's depiction of the world's consumer culture truly reveals the dangers of materialism and the consequences that can result from an obsession with money.