scholarly journals I would prefer not to turn the page: Reading and Writing in the Unlimited Digital Space

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Ana Sabino
Keyword(s):  
Herman Melville ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Infinite Space ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Digital Edition ◽  
Physical Limit ◽  
Bartleby The Scrivener

The limits of the page have been historically set by the constrictions of the materials on which the text is inscribed. In the digital age, those materials no longer impose a physical limit, and the limits are more bound to what are our established reading practices and conventions. We still need to access the text in finite portions — we cannot process the infinitude of text that the limitless digital space would allow. Hence, notions as window or frame appear to make this infinite space readable — not unlike the ancient practice of reading and writing on a scroll, which contained large texts, but could only be read portion by portion. Nowadays, we no longer simply turn a page and leave it behind; in our perception, it is more like a frame is constantly being repositioned. In order to question this transition and its implications, we will be looking at a paper and a digital edition of Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville.

Work and purpose: A return to Sisyphus and Bartleby

2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110474
Author(s):  
Pedro F Bendassolli
Keyword(s):  
Herman Melville ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Meaning Of Work ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
Work Relationship ◽  
Bartleby The Scrivener ◽  
Oriented Activity ◽  
The Relationship

Work is a semiotically oriented activity, that is, when working, individuals anticipate aspects of their activity using a network of signs and meanings and project themselves in time with the aim to achieve certain goals. This study proposes a discussion on the relationship between purpose and work and distinguishes purpose as objective, related to actions aimed at goals, and purpose as a glimpse or a hyper-generalized sign. Both of these purposes are related to other dimensions of an individual’s relationship, with their work that are not contained in their actions aimed at situated ends. From a methodological viewpoint, the arguments are developed based on the analysis of two fictional characters, inspired by the cultural psychology of semiotic orientation: Sisyphus, extracted from classical literature, and Bartleby, the scrivener of the novel of the same name written by Herman Melville. Based on this analysis, we propose considering the purpose–work relationship on two axes: (1) what articulates sense-meaning in the process of meaning-making, and (2) the axis of action potency and its relationship with the concepts of emptiness and contingency based on a human agent’s experiences in culture. The paper aims to contribute both to the cultural psychology of semiotic orientation and to the literature on the meaning of work.

The Business of Rhyming: Burma-Shave Poetry and Popular Culture

PMLA ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47
Author(s):  
Mike Chasar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Advertising Campaign ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
The Core ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Creative Forces

This essay uses the example of the long‐lived and popular Burma‐Shave advertising campaign to argue that literary critics should extend their attention to the vast amounts of poetry written for advertising purposes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Burma‐Shave campaign—which featured sequences of rhyming billboards erected along highways in the United States from 1926 to 1963—not only cultivated characteristics of literary and even avantgarde writing but effectively pressured that literariness into serving the commercial marketplace. At the same time, as the campaign's reception history shows, the spirit of linguistic play and innovation at the core of Burma‐Shave's poetry unintentionally distracted consumers' attention away from the commercial message and toward the creative forces of reading and writing poetry. A striking example of popular reading practices at work, this history shows how poetry created even in the most commercial contexts might resist the commodification that many twentieth‐century poets and critics feared. (MC)

scholarly journals The Complex World of Adolescent Literacy: Myths, Motivations, and Mysteries

2008 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH BIRR MOJE ◽  
MELANIE OVERBY ◽  
NICOLE TYSVAER ◽  
KAREN MORRIS
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Adolescent Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Complex World ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Reading And Writing

In this article, Elizabeth Birr Moje, Melanie Overby, Nicole Tysvaer, and Karen Morris challenge some of the prevailing myths about adolescents and their choices related to reading. The reading practices of youth from one urban community are examined using mixed methods in an effort to define what, how often, and why adolescents choose to read. By focusing on what features of texts youth find motivating, the authors find that reading and writing frequently occur in a range of literacy contexts outside school. However, only reading novels on a regular basis outside of school is shown to have a positive relationship to academic achievement as measured by school grades. This article describes how adolescents read texts that are embedded in social networks, allowing them to build social capital. Conclusions are framed in terms of the mysteries that remain — namely, how to build on what motivates adolescents' literacy practices in order to both promote the building of their social selves and improve their academic outcomes.

Emotional landscapes of reading: fan fiction in the context of contemporary reading practices

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Samutina
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Literary Theory ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Reading First ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Theory Theory ◽  
Fan Fiction ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Literary Experience

This article focuses on fan fiction as a literary experience and especially on fan fiction readers’ receptive strategies. Methodologically, its approach is at the intersection of literary theory, theory of popular culture, and qualitative research into practices of communication within online communities. It characterizes fan fiction as a type of contemporary reading and writing. Taking as an example the Russian Harry Potter fan fiction community, the article poses a set of questions about the meanings and contexts of immersive reading and affective reading. The emotional reading of fan fiction communities is put into historical and theoretical context, with reference to researchers who analysed and criticized the dichotomy of rational and affective reading, or ‘enchantment’, in literary culture as one of the symptoms of modernity. The metaphor of ‘emotional landscapes of reading’ is used to theorize the reading strategies of fan fiction readers, and discussed through parallels with phenomenological theories of landscape. Among the ‘assemblage points of reading’ of fan fiction, specific elements are described, such as ‘selective reading’, ‘kink reading’, ‘first encounter with fan fiction texts’ and ‘unpredictability’.

Revisiting Marketing to Children - Hiccups or Opportunity?

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Sushobhan Goswami
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Soft Or ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Marketing To Children ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Children form a sizable chunk of marketing spends of companies particularly in the FMCG sector. They induce buying on the part of parents. Children are active everywhere- be it in TV, or in homes, or wherever they are in their pastimes. They are goaded by their parents and sometimes indulged in fancy buying of objects, ranging from toys to mobiles to tablets to electronic playstations. Children today are called screenagers, they work on a TV screen, or a tablet screen, or a console screen. Within the digital space, while gaming remains the number one activity for 4-10 year old, as one moves up the age ladder, social media begins to take precedence over gaming. Parental support is crucial as they are the pillars of buying for children. In this study, mothers were found to be the pivot for children buying nourishing juices, candies, or toys, or devices with a focus on learning. Marketers must respond with speed to changing needs and choices of children and their parents supported by technology. They must pursue altruistic motives in targeting children with tender hearts and minds. Ethics lie at the root of marketing to children. As a corollary, marketers cannot bypass regulatory norms, soft or hard. In a digital age, marketers must tangibilise buying experiences or consumption experiences as far as possible.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document