Page 27 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 27
Genre in the Technological Remediation of Culture 27
identity as a collective tribal mask. In terms of cognitive abilities, it is a
transition from the long-term attention span typical of print culture (and
best exemplified by the novel) to the multi-tasking of the ‘constant now’
(Innis 1964). and the psychodynamic properties of the oral tradition (ag-
gregative, redundant, close to the human world, situational, homeostat-
ic) (Ong 1982). Obviously, the last goal of a psychologically imploded in-
dividual is critical political engagement.
The Status of Literature in the New Media Ecosystem
In such a media ecosystem, literature and writing no longer have any real
influence or power. Different empirical studies, depending on comission-
er and methodology, report very different findings about the status of lit-
erature, but two general trends are apparent: the already mentioned tex-
tual hyperproduction and the shortening of time devoted to reading6 at
the expense of new media practices (social networks, video watching etc.),
most evident in younger generations. On the one hand, the global lit-
erary ecosystem is becoming increasingly commercialized (following the
bestseller principle); non-commercial literature is published, but it is far
more diffused and fragmented. There is a tendency towards mainstreami-
sation linked to the increasing presence of technological interfaces in our
lives and parallel to the expansion of the cultural industry. On the other
side of this same process, there is a growing marginalization of non-main-
stream production: although it is quantitatively rising, its share in the en-
tire ecosystem is constantly dropping, and, due to its dependence on new
technological interfaces, is under constant pressure to adapt to the main-
stream. In such an ecosystem, the new media literary genres (electronic
literature, digital poetry), though interesting, remain marginal. Comput-
er-generated and computer-assisted literature (for poetry see, e.g., Laird
and Schwartz) are interesting phenomena as simulations of literature that
call into question the myth of the author’s inspiration and genius, though
it is difficult to see any qualitative improvement here in terms of poetic
forms or messages. The general tendency for short forms is manifested in
new pseudogenres, such as the ‘six-word novel’ or the ‘140-character nov-
el,’ which can hardly be understood as a remediation of a novel, but at best
an attempt to popularize literature on social networks.
6 People do not generally read less, but they read less demanding genres, thereby losing
the specific cognitive ability of deepened long—term concentration required for an-
alytical thinking. The change is broader and does not only concern literature: it is also
linked to the crisis in the print—based education system, science etc.
identity as a collective tribal mask. In terms of cognitive abilities, it is a
transition from the long-term attention span typical of print culture (and
best exemplified by the novel) to the multi-tasking of the ‘constant now’
(Innis 1964). and the psychodynamic properties of the oral tradition (ag-
gregative, redundant, close to the human world, situational, homeostat-
ic) (Ong 1982). Obviously, the last goal of a psychologically imploded in-
dividual is critical political engagement.
The Status of Literature in the New Media Ecosystem
In such a media ecosystem, literature and writing no longer have any real
influence or power. Different empirical studies, depending on comission-
er and methodology, report very different findings about the status of lit-
erature, but two general trends are apparent: the already mentioned tex-
tual hyperproduction and the shortening of time devoted to reading6 at
the expense of new media practices (social networks, video watching etc.),
most evident in younger generations. On the one hand, the global lit-
erary ecosystem is becoming increasingly commercialized (following the
bestseller principle); non-commercial literature is published, but it is far
more diffused and fragmented. There is a tendency towards mainstreami-
sation linked to the increasing presence of technological interfaces in our
lives and parallel to the expansion of the cultural industry. On the other
side of this same process, there is a growing marginalization of non-main-
stream production: although it is quantitatively rising, its share in the en-
tire ecosystem is constantly dropping, and, due to its dependence on new
technological interfaces, is under constant pressure to adapt to the main-
stream. In such an ecosystem, the new media literary genres (electronic
literature, digital poetry), though interesting, remain marginal. Comput-
er-generated and computer-assisted literature (for poetry see, e.g., Laird
and Schwartz) are interesting phenomena as simulations of literature that
call into question the myth of the author’s inspiration and genius, though
it is difficult to see any qualitative improvement here in terms of poetic
forms or messages. The general tendency for short forms is manifested in
new pseudogenres, such as the ‘six-word novel’ or the ‘140-character nov-
el,’ which can hardly be understood as a remediation of a novel, but at best
an attempt to popularize literature on social networks.
6 People do not generally read less, but they read less demanding genres, thereby losing
the specific cognitive ability of deepened long—term concentration required for an-
alytical thinking. The change is broader and does not only concern literature: it is also
linked to the crisis in the print—based education system, science etc.
