Sven Birkerts’ article is half warning, half worse case scenario aftermath. I almost looked for “desperate times call for desperate measures” to be included in the piece. All the same, I think he makes excellent points about the way society is changing and the role books have during and post flux.
I think the most important line of the piece is when Birkerts recognizes that people view the fate of the book as a direct correlation with “the fate of a way of life” (259). There is absolutely a reverence people have for book reading and the act of holding a work in one’s hands and consuming it’s contents. Reading text online does not deliver that same sense of comfort…we do not recognize that as a friend. In the world wide web, we are all connected and the solitary act of reading is lost with each scroll of the mouse. Books are our companions, Birkerts argues.
Furthermore, as everyone becomes more technologically connected and dependent, boundaries are blurred. There is great concern over salvaging the literary canon and the right of authorship. Many contend that there is no complete text online because of all the hyperlinks and supplemental links attached to each page of the original text. Additionally, as we see in Jenkins, online blogging and writing has taken over by storm…where does that fit into this convergence culture? Where does the main text or “canon” as we now refer to it in computerlit terms, end and where does all the other thoughts and contentions begin? Where is the separation or boundary? How do we distinguish between the true canon, the works heralded for centuries and new age fanfiction that has become popular, but not on the same formalized level as true canonized material? (or so the romantic would wonder)
I am now going to link you to the “tree flakes” article by David Shi. Shi spoke of the MIT Dean in this article/speech “The Fate of Books in the Digital Age.” I would recommend reading it because it is funny but also because Shi furthers Birkerts’ question of whether society will deem books a necessary component of life or something left behind in the rush to the computer.
I am also including an article about how advertising companies are having to tweak their processes in marketing and sales. Since we talked about convergence culture in relation to agency in class, I think this article, with paneled discussion from many large advertising firms can shed light on all the change taking place.
Great discussion in class!
January 31, 2008 at 3:47 am
[...] Expertise Project #2–Birkerts “Fate of the Book” Published January 30, 2008 expertise projects Behold the wonder of Julie’s work on Sven Birkerts’ “Fate of the Book” here! [...]
February 2, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I wish there were more time for us to think about the “way of life” that Birkerts references here. What is that, really? You’re right, we speak of it with reverent tones. But I would love to see what particular “social protocols” we associate with the book that we’re afraid of losing. Is it the process of curling up with a book? The habit of reading for pleasure? What is it we DO with a book, really?