By chance my mum had a Haruki Murakami book at home - 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' - so, being one of the authors on the list I decided to pick up and read it. I was immediately struck by the strangeness of his writing, how the narration of his stories sounds like a stream of someone's consciousness, the constancy and vividness of descriptive detail : sounds, smells, surroundings... I like the ambiguous and confusing nature of his writings, as well as the subtlety of his references, repetition of certain lines, words and motifs.
FURTHER RESEARCH :
-- Huraki Murakami is Japanese
-- wrote his first book in 1979 : Norwegian wood
-- he writes a combination of short stories and novels : "if writing novels is like planting a forest then writing short stories is more like planting a garden"
One of the most distinctive elements of Shakespeare's work - especially when placed into a contemporary context - is the language and rhythm of his writing. When studying Shakespeare at school I remember making reference to and reading about his use of the iambic pentameter.
-- The iambic pentameter is the stress of certain syllables to create rhythm.
-- An 'iamb' is one unstressed + stressed syllable e.g. to BE or NOT to BE
-- each verse is made up of 5 x2 syllable iambs = 10 syllables
e.g. shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer's DAY
-- Most of shakespeare's are written in pros : his characters use iambic pentameter when speaking about their inner thoughts and emotions ( in soliloquies)
-- the rhythm of an iambic pentameter actually mimics a heartbeat, therefore it doesn't just talk about matters of the heart, it follows its rhythm.
WHAT TO DO WITH THIS INFO : could be interesting to create something using shapes and typography combined with selected colours and motifs using key lines and verses of shakespeare's plays. highlighting through the composition of the typography/shapes his use of the iambic pentameter.
Considering the longevity of this brief I felt that I may become easily exhausted with Shakespeare's work - having studied many of his plays, such as 'Much ado about nothing' and 'the tempest', throughout my school career. But now I think there are many components that could be really interesting to research further and visualise.
REINVENTION - the universal and timeless themes as well as his evaluation of the human condition throughout his writing makes his plots easy to reinvent within different historical and contemporary settings.
e.g. 'Ten things I hate about you' is a film reinventing Shakespeare play 'The taming shrew' into the modern setting of a life an american teenager -- turning it into a contemporary romcom.
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES - Something I think is really interesting about Shakespeare's work is how the political and religious events during his lifetime influenced the plots and portrayal of certain characters within work.
e.g. Richard III (in the play Richard III) is portrayed to be so villainous because Shakespeare wrote the play during the rule of Queen Elizabeth I - who as descendent of Henry VII, who overthrow Richard III, wanted him to be believed as a monster and illegitimate ruler of England.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES - Due to the lack of biographical information on Shakespeare's personal life and his modest education there have been theories that his plays were written by another person. (But the theories are not taken seriously by many academics)
- Choose 3 authors from the list, research their lives and work. - Select one of the authors : develop a broad range of research : 5 quotes or pieces of writing 5 motifs 5 characters : costumes, features, personalities... 5 locations : atmosphere, landscape, diagrams/maps? 5 pieces of info about the author : social/political/cultural/historical, impact (critical reception, reviews...) (photos, other pieces of writing, links, videos, notes, sketchbook exploration, chosen work(s), reading and further research) my chosen 3 authors: - George Orwell - Shakespeare - Haruki Murakami
