Jonathan Swift & Current Writing

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, famous as the author of "Gulliver's Travels." He also wrote "The Battle of Books" (1704) pitting the ancient (classical) against the modern (later) writers. The ancients were Virgil, Cicero, Homer & Aristotle. The later writers were considered moderns. Being politically correct, Swift cleverly avoided mentioning the outcome of the battle but made his ideas abundantly clear by stating that "modern learning made its practitioners not less, but more, barbarous, conceited & inhumane."

How relevant his ideas are even today, has become blindingly evident by examining current writings. Earlier writers used to write only about subjects which they loved, after reading everything about them. Now putting the cart before the horse, they start writing "with a clean slate" as it were, collecting data as they go along. There is neither love for the subject nor exhaustive prior knowledge of it.  Added to this is the absence of reading for pleasure, which makes for functional use of the language rather than an idiomatic one, rendering the writing utterly lifeless. This writing "for order" (with both eyes only on  publication!) has produced an abundance of mediocre writing, devoid of any soul or spirit.