On my travels thus week I’ve been reading [amazon_link id=”0712665757″ target=”_blank” ]Illuminations[/amazon_link], the collection of essays by Walter Benjamin, to fill one of the many gaps in my education. He is a difficult writer, verging on a parody of a critical studies essay on himself in some places. But it’s worthwhile for the insights too. One that struck me was a comment about storytelling, and the role of the novel in assisting the decline of the older oral tradition of storytelling. He says: “the dissemination of the novel became possible only with the invention of printing.” well, of course we all know that the medium is the message but I’d never really concentrated before on the role of technology on shaping the form in the case of books and literature. Maybe it’s obvious to everyone else… Anyway, it set me pondering about what will really be the form for the written word that emerges from online technologies. I don’t think we’ve seen it yet, for all the innovation in publishing.
[amazon_image id=”0805202412″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Illuminations[/amazon_image]