Humn 303
This project will identify the similarities and differences between the Dark Ages in Europe and the Era of Generation Z in the USA as represented by arts and literature in both time periods.
Conditions such as war, disease and poverty which characterized the Dark Ages are also experienced by Generation Z. The discussion of the modern day Dark Ages in the context of the US would be an interesting subject of study.
This project will provide a comparison between the Dark Ages and the Generation Z in the aspects of warfare, diseases, and how people addressed such conditions. The research will look into warfare and military strategies. The second aspect would be the kind of diseases that came about. In the dark ages there was the bubonic plague, for the Generation there are so many that are equally severe or even more serious. The third aspect would be how people addressed these issues. The dark ages had religion while the Generation Z took to technology.
The term Dark Ages refer to as “periods of regression and reversal” for most scholars, however, Chew looks at the Dark ages as structural natural moments of social and natural systems rebalancingeven as transformation” (Chew, 2007, p. 148). In Europe, at around the third century, diseases that struck the populations were likewise devastating, but despite all these negative events, scholars have written about movements that were rooted at the Dark Ages and have positive impacts on modern man. Two of which are Christianity and Islam. Fast forward to the 21st century, war, diseases, and poverty are still affecting modern man. In the midst of all these is Generation Z and his digital era. The Generation Z in America are those born in the mid-1990s until the present. In the digital age, Generation Z are influenced by popular culture, “a text that is received by the people and acted on as a lived experience created by the people” (Dolby, 2003 as cited in Ramsey, 2009, p.91).
This project aims to answer the following research questions:
- Who are the Generation Z and what are their characteristics?
- What are the major events took place from 1990s to the present that can be considered as representative of the Generation Z era?
- What were the events that happened in the Dark Ages? How are these similar to those that have taken place n the 21st century?
- Did religion (Christianity, Islam, paganism) effectively address the population’s needs during the dark ages?
- Is technology effective in addressing the needs of GenerationZ when confronted with such conditions?
- How is the idea of the Dark Ages presented in the arts and literature produced during the era of Generation Z.
The term Dark Ages refers to periods of regression and reversal, a time where there are no economic growth and development in various areas in society including arts and literature. However, these times can also be regarded as periods where transformation can begin to emerge. Such transformations are often manifested through a society’s arts and literature. In the context of the US, there are periods in history which may be considered Dark Ages. Identifying effects of social and political upheavals, through existing arts and literary forms that are produced during the period of Generation Z, will be carried out in this study.
- Research Question
How is the Dark Ages represented by the arts and literature during the Era of Generation Z?
- Theoretical Framework
- Related Literature
- Description and Characteristics of the Dark Ages
- Characteristics of Generation Z
- Events during the period of Generation Z that are regarded as indicators of Dark Ages
- Arts and Literature during the Dark Ages of Generation Z
- Methodology
- Available data / Sample
- Data-gathering methods (online research of journals, books, book reviews)
- Data-analysis (thematic analysis; content analysis)
- Findings: Similarities between Dark Ages and Generation Z
- People
- Warfare
- Diseases
- Religion
- Technology
- Arts
- Literature
- Conclusion, Discussion, and Implications for Further Research
- References
References
Chew, S. C. (2007). A Period of Darkness. In The Recurring Dark Ages: Ecological Stress, Climate Changes, and System Transformation. United Kingdom: AltaMira Press, pp. 139-166.
Ramsey, P.J. (2009). The Dark Ages haven’t ended yet. American Educational History Journal, 36 (1), pp.89-104.
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