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There is no denying the beauty of any nation. Think about it: there are 195 countries, and each one is distinct and proud to be renowned for its own things.
Whether a place is famous for its sports, unique wildlife, farming, killer lakes, movies, volcanoes, robots, national parks, kielbasa, or David Attenborough, chances are, at some point, you wanted to dig a little deeper. And while traveling to various destinations will broaden your knowledge and feed your brain all this yummy info about cultures and the citizens of our diverse planet, sometimes, hopping on a plane and flying across the ocean is simply beyond one’s ability.
However, this is when literature comes in handy! Apart from all the beneficial aspects, reading the works of different authors will allow you to listen to another side of the story, another person’s thoughts and perspectives.
In other words, getting familiar with a well-versed piece of foreign writing will help you to transport to another perhaps completely opposite setting that will surely teach you a thing or two.
More info: Twitter | Writt
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Now, good old Twitter.
With a large number of daily active users, it continues to be one of the most well-liked social media platforms accessible today. It’s also a great place for pop culture memes (or any memes really), debates, and stimulating conversations.
But despite its great resources, just like any other social media portal, Twitter does get occasional backlash for its cancel culture, too much trolling, hate, and the spread of misinformation – however, today we’ll be focusing on a very educational topic with a hint of entertainment.
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“Does America have a national epic?” – this netizen turned to one of the biggest social media platforms to question other users about America and its national epic. The tweet has garnered over 6.6K likes, as well as 381 retweets, and sparked heaps of comical suggestions.
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Bored Panda reached out to the creator of an Instagram page called “Writt” that specializes in celebrating the power of words, and we asked them to tell us a little bit about themselves: “@writtorg is an Instagram account that posts classic literature quotes each and every morning. Through the quotes, literature-inspired merchandise, and literacy-focused philanthropy, we hope to amplify the celebration of words. What started as a little nerdy hobby has grown into a lovely book-obsessed community!”
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The creator was then asked to define “national epic”: “To me, a national epic is a story of recognizable and relatable challenge and a detailing of the spirit necessary to overcome it. A national epic becomes ‘national’ when those challenges and the details of that spirit are most recognizable and relatable to a specific nation or people. Those timeless and borderless epics transcend nationality when universally relatable.”
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We then questioned whether they thought it was crucial to get familiar with the world’s greatest epics, they responded “Absolutely! Travel is a luxury. Most can’t afford to fly across the world to experience new cultures and beliefs. But reading foreign epics allows you to learn of other people and other times in order to more fully appreciate the human experience.”
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Now, let’s move on to the question that we’ve all gathered here for – does the United States have a national epic? “Gosh, you could argue for works from Twain or Faulkner or Sinclair or Cather or DuBois or Baldwin. Which is why we might not have a national epic. The experience of Americans is so wildly different from one another, what is the true recognizable and relatable challenge and spirit of our nation? Of course, a similar issue exists for all other nations. But America is so young I don’t know that we have our narrative yet. And if we do, it is that ‘melting pot’ cliche that suggests there is no shared challenge or shared spirit.”
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We all know how important reading is for developing one’s skills and escaping from the stresses of the outside world – however, we wanted to hear the Instagram page creator’s take on it, so we asked why literature matters: “Literature is the most democratic luxury there is. Especially today, anyone with access to a computer can find free access to the best texts in human history. Very rare that so many can have access to the best of anything. And when we read, we learn. Each story is a case study in human behavior. Each line is an exploration or chance for reflection.”
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Nonetheless, many of us don’t have the time to read books or prefer to watch movies or even skim through social media instead, so BP wondered whether the author of the page had anything to say to those who don’t enjoy reading: “You don’t have to read Ulysses or Shakespeare. Read comics. Read essays. Read poems. Read quotes. Read nonfiction. Read erotica. Whatever it is that interests you. The important thing is to take the time to get out of your own head and into that of another.”
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Despite all of the witty and highly amusing responses, what we can take from this viral thread is that America doesn’t have a single defining piece of national literature; instead, they have a collection of works that they utilize to identify who they are. Some might believe that it’s Paul Bunyan or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while others will advocate that the best candidate for this position is an iconic pop singer’s song.
What do you consider to be America’s greatest epic?
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Darja is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She studied at the University of Westminster, where she got her Bachelor's degree in Contemporary Media Practice. She loves photography, foreign music and re-watching Forrest Gump.
Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.
Huckleberry Finn. Even if Twain wasn’t conscious of Alexis de Tocqueville‘s take on US society, he shared it at ground level. Like all good epic, it involves a journey, and like the US, it has the racial divide at its center. Huck dispenses with the “white savior” trope a century before it was a thing: he’s literally along for the ride as Jim frees himself. The side story of the phony Dauphin shows the US rejection of false hierarchy, but also the dangerous alternative of mob rule (an issue we still contend with)
Funny that most of the replies don’t really know what is meant by “Epic”. And the one who said it was Tolkein – do they really think he was American?
He was saying that “Book of the New Sun”, a series by an American author, is essentially a Tolkien ripoff. He did word it badly.
It wasn’t clear if they knew what an epic was. They were giving joking answers, so it’s hard to know.
I didn’t see Tolkien, who is an author, not a story. I don’t know if the Spanish would say Don Quixote is their epic. Maybe that it’s the greatest work of late Renaissance Spanish literature. The Epic as a format isn’t really common today. Maybe the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. Which was a retelling of the Odyssey buy taking place in the depression era Southern United States. Grapes of Wrath and Native Son are both important works of American literature that captured a time and a place, as an Epic might.
My wife wants to go with “On the Road”
A Billionare Dinosaur Turned Me Gay by Fox and Hunter
Epic indeed…
Huckleberry Finn. Even if Twain wasn’t conscious of Alexis de Tocqueville‘s take on US society, he shared it at ground level. Like all good epic, it involves a journey, and like the US, it has the racial divide at its center. Huck dispenses with the “white savior” trope a century before it was a thing: he’s literally along for the ride as Jim frees himself. The side story of the phony Dauphin shows the US rejection of false hierarchy, but also the dangerous alternative of mob rule (an issue we still contend with)
Funny that most of the replies don’t really know what is meant by “Epic”. And the one who said it was Tolkein – do they really think he was American?
He was saying that “Book of the New Sun”, a series by an American author, is essentially a Tolkien ripoff. He did word it badly.
It wasn’t clear if they knew what an epic was. They were giving joking answers, so it’s hard to know.
I didn’t see Tolkien, who is an author, not a story. I don’t know if the Spanish would say Don Quixote is their epic. Maybe that it’s the greatest work of late Renaissance Spanish literature. The Epic as a format isn’t really common today. Maybe the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. Which was a retelling of the Odyssey buy taking place in the depression era Southern United States. Grapes of Wrath and Native Son are both important works of American literature that captured a time and a place, as an Epic might.
My wife wants to go with “On the Road”
A Billionare Dinosaur Turned Me Gay by Fox and Hunter
Epic indeed…
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