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Generous funding
has recently been granted by the Swedish research funds
Riksbankens jubileumsfond and Ridderstads stiftelse
for research into the impact of new information technologies
on the sphere of contemporary literature. The CHB, in
collaboration with Napier University, is pleased to
be associated with the project, which is being undertaken
by Ann Steiner, a visiting fellow from The University
of Lund. A study of the interaction of literature and
modern digital technology, the project's focus is on
the production, distribution, and consumption of literature
on the Internet. The effects the changes in digital
media will have on literature and reading have already
been much discussed, but this is still a field that
requires exploration from a literary or book historical
perspective.
There has been
for some time an ongoing discussion as to whether or
not the Internet provides a democratic opportunity for
all users to influence and participate in the public
sphere. The advocates for the optimistic belief in an
empowered public have argued that writing on the web
is proof of the variety of ways in which ordinary people,
in the privacy of their homes, can transform categories
such as literature, culture, and reading practices.
Others have reiterated the claims of Jürgen Habermas
and his argument that such freedom is merely an illusion
and that individuals can never really formulate self-contained
opinions since these are always ideologically produced
by others.
This study will
seek to address these issues in two ways: on the one
hand, it will examine literature created and published
on the Internet; on the other, it will address how texts
published as material books are distributed, discussed,
and reviewed on Internet sites.
Ann Steiner
will be revealing some of her findings to the Edinburgh
Book History Seminar on 2nd November in a talk entitled
‘Bloggers, Bookcrossers, and Amazonians: Books on the
Internet'. A full schedule of the series is available
on-line.
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