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The Mailer Review/Volume 5, 2011/Norman Mailer and the Novel 2.0: Difference between revisions
The Mailer Review/Volume 5, 2011/Norman Mailer and the Novel 2.0 (view source)
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The battle between democracy and authoritarianism can also be seen in literature’s waning novel. The novel, ironically, is no longer “new,” but to many represents literature’s patriarchal past. While the digital age in many ways encourages us to become engaged with the world as citizens of a democracy should be, the voices of those artists, dreamers, and rebels who wrote powerful novels seem also to be caught up in the digital tsunami overtaking world culture and politics. Instead of holing up in our bunker hoping that the tide will pass, perhaps the digital age will present the novel with a new life—a medium that can both represent the individual talent and the voices of the people. | The battle between democracy and authoritarianism can also be seen in literature’s waning novel. The novel, ironically, is no longer “new,” but to many represents literature’s patriarchal past. While the digital age in many ways encourages us to become engaged with the world as citizens of a democracy should be, the voices of those artists, dreamers, and rebels who wrote powerful novels seem also to be caught up in the digital tsunami overtaking world culture and politics. Instead of holing up in our bunker hoping that the tide will pass, perhaps the digital age will present the novel with a new life—a medium that can both represent the individual talent and the voices of the people. | ||
While attempts to represent the novel in a new way on the | While attempts to represent the novel in a new way on the Web{{efn|For example, see ''[http://www.powermobydick.com Power Moby-Dick]'', the [http://thegoldennotebook.org ''Golden Notebook'' Project], and [https://vimeo.com/15725310 Apture].}} have potential, they will ultimately remain just experiments if readers are forced to use a computer. The device must not get in the way of our engaging the text. The novel’s transparency is likely what many opponents of the computer seem to be most concerned with. We already know how a novel works. The medium of the novel does not get in the way of the content of the novel. In fact, the medium seems to highlight the content by the very fact of its transparency. Novels on the Web are more about the technology than they are about the content. This situation bothers us literati. | ||
While we should be concerned about technological transparency, perhaps it is integral for a literary experience. Several new applications for tablet devices show promise, not only for traditional publications—like Apple’s iBooks, Sony’s eReader, and the Kindle—but also for those incorporating user interaction for annotations and bookmarks.{{efn|For example, see [http://goodreader.com/index.html Goodreader], [https://www.inkling.com Inkling], and al Gore’s ''[http://pushpoppress.com/ourchoice/ Our Choice]''.}} Perhaps it is less the digital aspect of the Novel 2.0 than the lack of solid and predictable conventions that bothers us. | While we should be concerned about technological transparency, perhaps it is integral for a literary experience. Several new applications for tablet devices show promise, not only for traditional publications—like Apple’s iBooks, Sony’s eReader, and the Kindle—but also for those incorporating user interaction for annotations and bookmarks.{{efn|For example, see [http://goodreader.com/index.html Goodreader], [https://www.inkling.com Inkling], and al Gore’s ''[http://pushpoppress.com/ourchoice/ Our Choice]''.}} Perhaps it is less the digital aspect of the Novel 2.0 than the lack of solid and predictable conventions that bothers us. | ||