EY is the shortest story published in the world ever which transcends the boundaries of language, and with a universal language.
All stories have a context, characters, time and language. But this story is in such a way that the reader can interpret this story based on his/her consciousness. The reader decides the story, the characters, the timing and the language according to their personal experience and reading ambience. The story gives the reader the freedom to determine the context of the story and to choose the characters and context.
For example: If it’s a restaurant and two lovers out there, it’s a love story. The essence of the story changes when the reader realizes it is a communication between a mother and a small, naughty child. The story even changes when you think that the conversation takes place between two unknown people in street.
No story in the world could have asked for such intervention from the reader. The tone and pronunciation of each word in the short story make it unique and interesting.
Refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story, you may find the description of a short story. It is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a “single effect” or mood. A dictionary definition is “an invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot.” The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella (a shorter novel), authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques. Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed formation. In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 for short stories, however some have 20,000 words and are still classed as short stories. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes referred to as “short stories”, or “flash fiction”. In short, Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count there is no official demarcation between an anecdote, a short story, and a novel. Rather, the form’s parameters are given by the rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and considered, so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres, countries, eras, and commentators.
You may find in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” is the entirety of what has been described as a six-word story, making it an extreme example of what is called flash fiction or sudden fiction. Although it is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, the link to him is unsubstantiated and similar stories predate him. The claim of Hemingway’s authorship originates in an unsubstantiated anecdote about a wager between him and other writers. In a 1992 letter to Canadian humorist John Robert Colombo, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke recounts it thus: While lunching with friends at a restaurant (variously identified as Luchow’s or The Algonquin), Hemingway bets the table ten dollars each that he can craft an entire story in six words. After the pot is assembled, Hemingway writes “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” on a napkin, passes this around the table, and collects his winnings.
With reference to https://rcgale.com/2012/05/02/the-worlds-shortest-short-story-is-only-8-words-long-titled-el-dinosaurio, Augusto Monterroso is a Guatemalan short story writer best known for his 8-word story titled “El Dinosaurio”: When I woke up, the dinosaur was still there. You might imagine a young girl who wakes in the morning to find her pet Dino faithfully at her bedside.
Likewise in poetry also, there happened debates over shortest poetry. Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes, also known simply as Fleas, is a couplet commonly cited as the shortest poem ever written, composed by American poet Strickland Gillilan in the early 20th century. The poem reads in full:
Adam
Had ’em
But according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s shortest poem is a one-letter poem by Aram Saroyan comprising a four-legged version of the letter “m”.
Experiments have always been there in literature. This story is also an experiment, a craft which with universal language, a story which demands the participation and intervention of the readers. The craft challenges the categorization and fixed formation of a short story. The story transcends beyond the boundaries of language to end up in a universal language. Various theories has been put forward about the origin of language. The common theories of languages include the bow-bow theory, pooh-pooh theory, ding- dong theory, yo-he-ho theory, ta-ta theory and la-la theory. The story “Ey” is close to the pooh- pooh theory and la-la theory. The pooh-pooh theory put forward the idea that speech comes from the automatic vocal responses to pain, fear, surprise, or other emotions: a laugh, a shriek, a gasp. He also uses the la-la theory which states that speech emerged from the sounds of inspired playfulness, love, poetic sensibility, and song.
Moreover, examining the history of literature whether it is pre modernistic, modernistic, post modernistic or Meta modernistic, it is apparent that language is the casing of all literature. Pre modernism writers resorted to direct one to one correspondence between words and objects. But in the modernist period, writers focused on expressive language of symbol, myth and allusion to make the literary works imposing. In modernist literary texts, emphasis is given to both colloquial and formal language. Writers of the modernist period who were dissatisfied with clear resolutions and linear plots in literature that existed prior to modernism used open and often unresolved endings. Postmodern writers often leave their stories open-ended, without any satisfying conclusion. Postmodern stories and novels rely heavily on irony and satire. Postmodern authors often discard the boundaries between the different genres. The postmodern texts reveal cynicism about the ability of art to create meaning, the ability of history to reveal truth, and the ability of language to convey reality. All that skepticism led to fragmented, open-ended, self-reflexive stories that are intellectually fascinating but often difficult to grasp. The metamodern structure can be grasped as a generational attempt to surpass postmodernism and a general response to our present, crisis-ridden moment. Metamodernism does not mean a complete break with the traditional notions of modernism and postmodernism.
In short, it can be concluded that the organized language in pre modernistic period was challenged in subsequent periods. It started assuming a form of “formlessness” in cumulative. But while endeavoring to be free in form and structure, literature did not move away from the frame of language. Language sketched boundaries and literature became geographically divided.
Ey is a story which abolishes this geographical divide and which goes beyond the Meta post modernism period. Even language in Ey acquired formlessness. Ey is the story in a “Beyond meta post modernism” period. This story also concludes the evolution of language. Beyond Meta modernism language is alike that were in pre historic times.
The present chaos created by the pandemic reformed the borders and validated that the desire for oneness of the human race. Discrimination over languages, geography, race, creed, color or gender has to wither and borders in all segments of life has to be redefined.
Ey befits the writing of “Beyond meta post modernism” epoch. And Of course this THREE WORDED STORY is the world’s shortest story ever published.
Accolades
India book of records
This story “Ey” is published in a book titled “Ey…Chu” published by Xpress Publishing (an imprint of Notion Press and bears ISBN 978-1-64760-189-8. This book comprises two love stories. One story is “Ey” and the other is “Chu”.The story has gained the Certificate of record for authoring the shortest love story on January 18, 2020 from India Book of Records.
World’s shortest story
Ey…
Mm…
….
Mm…hum
SHAJIL ANTHRU: Born in Trivandrum, Kerala, India in 1968 to K M Anthru and Jameela Beevi, Shajil Anthru started writing short stories and poems at small ages following the footsteps of his father K M Anthru, a short story writer and essayist in Malayalam.
His first published creative writing is an English poem at the age of 11. Thereafter he published stories, poems and essays in leading newspapers and magazines in Malayalam. His published works are Rekshakante Varavu (2010) – Malayalam short story collection, Utharam (2013) – Malayalam novel, Swapanagalile Pakshi (2017) – Malayalam poetry collection and Over a Cup of Tea (2018) – Love story collection in English, Ey…CHU (2019) Collection of two love stories and Viswasahithyathile ettavum cheriya kadha (2020) – Malayalam story. In 2007 he Scripted, directed, and wrote lyrics for his telefilm “Daivam Vannu” based on his short story. He is reviewer of few technical journal and writes technical papers in International journals as well.
He is married to Mini H S. His daughter is Roshni S. By profession, he is an Engineer with Quality and Project Management skills. At present, he is working as Principal (Polytechnic Colleges) under Directorate of Technical Education, Kerala. He is also the founder of the transnational e magazine “Litterateur Redefining world”
Thinking It Over Starting from My Own Writing and Creative Process
My interest in writing started at my younger ages. At the time when I started writing, I did not fit into any particular genre of literature. I started writing an English novel “Palma” at the age of ten. One year later I wrote a poem “The naughty lamb” which is my first published work. During that time I started writing Malayalam short stories and poetry also. I switched between different genres of literature and language. I was not particular and did not insist myself that I should write daily. I wrote only when I cannot control my urge for expression. Expressions could be of any form. Sometimes I play with paints and pencils. Sometimes I dance and perform in stage. Other times I speak. And in many times it is a combination.
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I must say that my writings are born in solitude. When I am in great agony and pain, I resort to writing. Luckily our society and its members are generous enough to give its elements, any number of pains.
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Many magazines and newspapers in Kerala were generous enough to publish my poetry, stories and weekly columns. The Covid pandemic made the publishing of magazines and newspapers difficult. Covid pandemic days inspired me to own a website to publish my works. But soon the idea changed. Why can’t my website be used by litterateurs and artists all over the world?
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We are in a world disarrayed with disasters. True it is, from the pages of history, every trivial change in the world will find its replication in literature. Recall the advent of post modernism in the second half of twentieth century. The World War II brought forward new thinking about humanity along with a deep sense of pessimism. This marked the advent of postmodernism when some tried to break away from the ideals of modernism. But the conflict continued within postmodernism and it also started to weaken as an intellectual and cultural system.
Various possibilities have been put forward after postmodernism: post-postmodernism, new materialism, post humanism, critical realism, dig modernism, Meta modernism, performatism, post-digitalism, trans-postmodernism, post-millennialism etc.
However, a Postmodernism era characterized by dualist notions ended and a new era with monist characteristics commenced. Thinkers around the world called it Meta modernism. Metamodernism questioned the universality and truthfulness of old modernism and the fragmentation and skepticism of postmodernism. Meta modernism tried to recreate a sense of wholeness that allows positive change both locally and globally, characterized by an oscillation between aspects of both modernism and post modernism.
Going ahead with Covid pandemic smash which reformed the borders and re-validated the oneness of human race, we should foresee that it is time to go beyond Meta modernism. Discrimination over languages, countries, race, creed, color or gender has to diminish and borders in all segments of life redefined.
Literature and Litterateurs have greater role in molding a new intellectual and cultural environment.
And the consequence is the international magazine – Litterateur Redefining World.
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Litterateur Redefining World published around 115 authors from almost 40 countries worldwide within a span of four months in four issues.
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A book “The era of Zeroism- new order of the day” which shows what is next after Meta modernism is under final production.
