Sunday, May 2, 2010

The mighty author

I am intrigued by how powerful this little guy, the author, has suddenly become due to the emergence of the mighty digital text. As of one year or so, the entire value chain in publishing has been turned upside-down, but the author (the gifted observer of the world around her - or him) is still oblivious to all it. For the first time, the middle man could be out (not it should be out - but the technology makes him dispensable). The author, however, does not clearly see the opportunity: the author wants to stay in line. The author wants entry to the Law, to follow a metaphor used by Kafka in his story "Before the law" http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw%20.htm, but does not have the courage to enter a door made only for him. He feels that someone else has to validate him. Why? Does a seed ask for permission to germinate? Does a cherry tree ask for authorization to bloom and make fruits? Why should we? And by the way, look at a blooming cherry tree - by the number of insects buzzing around, there's a lot of dazzling marketing right there, that the humble tree invests in, year after year...

I guess that in time, the cherry tree, or the peacock, or the ladybug have learned that no one else will do that marketing for them...The usual counterargument is that poor material will be published ...but, come on...poor material??! Isn't that the most deliriously funny argument that anyone could make?

Chicago flight

In haibun (a literary form originating in Japan), prose and verse (mostly haiku) coexist; the transition between them  brings on a “shift” t...