Maybe this is nothing new. Already in the late 19th century, authors like Sholem Aleichem and Mark Twain traveled across Europe and America reading their works to audiences. That was effective because so much of their writing mimics everyday speech.
Now, as audiobooks become increasingly widespread, maybe there is good reason for a trend toward an oral style. Has the borderline between the oral and written language blurred?
I am trying to remember what Jacques Derrida meant when he said that writing proceeds voice. That’s especially hard to grasp because I am dictating this comment.
i think there will always be people who see value in written words, there is inherent value in things that last or can be revisited again and again. there’s also something irreplaceable about consuming someone else's work in your own mental voice - helps with digestion in a way that just watching or hearing doesn’t. maybe this is why i like subtitles in movies so much.
maybe how we write will change (as the audience changes) but i believe writing itself will last. with an increasingly artificial, mind numbing, forgetful existence there is a craving for something tangible and real. and what’s more real than words on paper?
Anyone who quotes L. Cohen gets my vote.
Of course! Encourage them to subscribe!
As a teacher trying to teach kids to DO, this is a piece I might need to come back to a few times. I might want to use it in class - is that okay?
Maybe this is nothing new. Already in the late 19th century, authors like Sholem Aleichem and Mark Twain traveled across Europe and America reading their works to audiences. That was effective because so much of their writing mimics everyday speech.
Now, as audiobooks become increasingly widespread, maybe there is good reason for a trend toward an oral style. Has the borderline between the oral and written language blurred?
I am trying to remember what Jacques Derrida meant when he said that writing proceeds voice. That’s especially hard to grasp because I am dictating this comment.
i think there will always be people who see value in written words, there is inherent value in things that last or can be revisited again and again. there’s also something irreplaceable about consuming someone else's work in your own mental voice - helps with digestion in a way that just watching or hearing doesn’t. maybe this is why i like subtitles in movies so much.
maybe how we write will change (as the audience changes) but i believe writing itself will last. with an increasingly artificial, mind numbing, forgetful existence there is a craving for something tangible and real. and what’s more real than words on paper?