Will social media and aggregated preferences sweep away book reviewing and literary culture? There’s nothing new about the death of literatureThe writer Caleb Crain is unhappy about “the intrusion of counting into the life of literature”. He believes that big data and predictive-taste algorithms are cutting humans “out of the loop”, and that social media are undermining our faith in “the mental states of other people” when those inner states aren’t acknowledged in tweets and likes. It seems we are mired in “a new kind of disenchantment”, he says, which is devolving our sense of literary merit. As big data blurs personal opinion into preference aggregates, and as Twitter-propelled article-surfing destroys reviewing communities and the authority of critics alike, Crain contends, we have no choice but to “declare war on counting”. So that, you know, “literature will survive”. Related: Computer says no: Amazon uses AI to combat fake reviews Bad criticism in public is a nuisance. Does it spell the end of days? Hardly [S]uddenly the cosmos seems like one vast plan after all, patterned in such a way that the novel you’re reading at bedtime connects to your astronomy lecture, connects to what you heard on NPR, connects to what your friend discusses in the cafeteria at lunch – and then briefly it’s as if the lid has come off the world, as if the world were a dollhouse, and you can glimpse what it would be like to see it whole, from above – a vertiginous magnificence. Continue... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
News and Events World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, will host the 2021 Neustadt Lit Festival on Zoom from Oct. 25–27. The festival features numerous panels exploring the... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-11 18:55:28 UTC ]
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News and Events Photo by Christopher T. Assaf World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, today announced Cynthia Leitich Smith as the winner of the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-10-20 23:56:14 UTC ]
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The British Book Awards shortlist for the 2018 Books of the Year include top-selling titles and reader favorites across seven categories. Sales, literary merit, and publishing strategy will determine the final winners. The post Rewarding Top-Selling Titles: 42 Titles on the ‘Nibbies’ Books of... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Will social media and aggregated preferences sweep away book reviewing and literary culture? There’s nothing new about the death of literatureThe writer Caleb Crain is unhappy about “the intrusion of counting into the life of literature”. He believes that big data and predictive-taste algorithms... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 11:54 Titles on Russian history, the populace of Germany and a spiritual travelogue have been longlisted for the 2011 Authors' Club Dolman Travel Book of the Year. Molotov's Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonski (Faber), Germania by Simon Winder (Picador) and All... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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