1.
Emphasis on an even more accurate picture of society
Contemporary Literature has a very important role because it reflects a society’s social
as well as political point of views. Writers, in general, look for what is trending in their
time for their literary work. Because it helps them to illuminate the strength or weakness
of society. Literature or to be more specific, Contemporary Literature helps the readers
to develop their rational thinking. So when we talk about Contemporary Literature, we
can’t just simply take a couple of subjects or settings. Since society changes after some
time, so do the substance and messages of this composition.
Contemporary literature reflects current trends in life and culture, these things change
often, contemporary literature changes as well. It reflects the author's perspective and
can come across as cynical. It questions facts, historical perspectives and presents two
contradictory arguments side by side. It also includes reality-based stories with strong
characters and a believable story. Settings usually keep to the current or modern era.
Well-defined, realistic, and highly developed characters are important in classifying a
written work as contemporary, and most writing in this category features stories that are
more character driven than plot driven.
Contemporary literature features a somewhat modern narrative, but it also contains a
harsher reality. Contemporary written works tend to be influenced by the prosperous
lifestyle that followed WWII, but this literary class is rooted in the devastation that war
brought to the world. A new reality blossomed in the post-war mind, and it included a
personal cynicism, disillusionment, and frustration that is common to this literary period.
2. Nationalism – possible emphasis on country, loyalty, etc.
When the importance of contemporary literature in the formation of any nation is at stake, the first
thing that must be taken into account is that nation, as we know, is a very recent phenomenon in
history. Contemporary literature became a vital part of the public culture. Contemporary literature
became not only a vehicle for the expression and circulation of nationalist ideas but also a measure of
the nation. The development of contemporary literature is a synecdoche for the nation's history.
Contemporary literature became not merely an expression of the nation's character but also evidence of
the nation's merit and even legitimacy. Contemporary Literature, as a vehicle, helps to
express nationalist ideas particularly well. If nations or nationalist movements are indeed identifiable
entities moving forward in time, they need to speak, and contemporary literature gives them a voice
to do just that.
When the importance of contemporary literature in the formation of any nation is at stake, the first
thing that must be taken into account is that nation, as we know, is a very recent phenomenon in
history. Historical accounts, archaeology and literature inform us that the profile of former societies was
rather different than the ones of each modern state. The conception of modern state goes back to
European Renaissance when nations, such as France and England, achieve a certain unity that allow
them to forge their national identity based on some convergent facts like territory, language, political
ideology and religion. Yet it is literature the institution that joins them together raising the national
spirit. Literature is an art made up of language, which has its formal and social constituents transformed
to generate the writing craft. As a social institution, a national literature emerges from daily activities of
the people who live in a particular area. Owing to this evidence, social institutions and individual
psychology are elements ready to be represented by literary forms and contents. This prerogative allows
literature to play an important role and, in some cases, a decisive one in the formation of a nation. It is
known that any country faces a struggle, normally a war, in its process of independence and, once
independent, it starts dealing with those social institutions appointed above in order to ignite the
process of building its cultural identity. In doing so, the rise of a national literature becomes paramount
to fulfill the collective desideratum. Notwithstanding, a national literature does not grow divorced from
the previous matrix of the newly born nation. Thus, when we put the English and American experiences
into historical perspective, we see that both took some time to develop the suitable forms to express
the contents related to their nature, urbanity, religiosity, individual and social psychologies and other
manifestations. Therefore, the following lines aim at pinpointing the most important landmarks of
English and American histories recorded in literature or otherwise how literature has been contributing
to shape England and America as the countries we know today
