What is a litblog? Part II

I was happy to see the comments to my last post, which are very helpful for my preparation. I'd like to respond and propose a tweaked, and hopefully improved, definition soon.

"Main-stream literary culture" is problematic. What I am trying to suggest is that litblogging is not strictly "academic." For example, there are very few posts which would discuss extremely esoteric topics in literary theory, the way many academic articles do. Instead, they tend to focus on a more current literary culture - a New York Times Book Review kind of culture, which yes, I do believe pre-dates the blog in non-academic journalism... 

But at the same time, blogging has an element of counter-culture that I need to account for. Any thoughts? I'll keep thinking. 

Someone suggested that the ability to comment is very important, so I'll be adding that in. 

What is a litblog?

A website where commentary and/or news on current developments in main stream literary culture are posted and displayed in reverse chronological order. 

What do you think?

A few more books...

As the research goes on...

Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture by Geert Lovink

Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America by Gail Pool

Links

Sorry I've been MIA - the beginning of school has been rather stressful. But fear not, more to come I assure you!

For now, enjoy these links:

Blogging Archaeology and the Archaeology of Blogging

Article on Jessa Crispin of Bookslut, one of my favorite litblogs, discussing many of the topics on this blog.

Blog of the Institute for the Future of the Book, with a refutation of the recent NEA report on reading.

The Book (Review) and the Blog

A James Wolcott article on book reviewing. His position on litblogs I mostly disagree with. 

He begins...

In fact, despite what the bloggers themselves believe, the future of literary culture does not lie with blogs--or at least, it shouldn't.

And ends...

The only useful part of most book blogs, in fact, are the links to long-form essays and articles by professional writers, usually from print journals. 

I actually do believe that linking may be one of the most important features of litblogging, but that doesn't by any means make litblogging obsolete. Ironically, I only found Wolcott's article through a litblog link, and I'm sure he wouldn't object that I'm passing it on here. 

Books

If you are interested in the relationship between blogging and political news, this book is of interest:

The Rise of the Blogosphere by Aaron Barlow

What is a critic?

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

The word critic comes from the Greek κριτικός, kritikós - one who discerns, which itself arises from the Ancient Greek word κριτής, krités, meaning a person who offers reasoned judgment or analysis, value judgment, interpretation, or observation.

Modern critics include professionals or amateurs who regularly judge or interpret performances or other works (such as those of artists, scientists, musicians, or actors), and typically publish their observations, often in periodicals. Critics are numerous in certain fields, including art, music, film, theatre or drama, restaurant, and scientific publication critics.

This definition suggests that the next question to ask is whether bloggers are professionals or amateurs. There certainly seems to be a clear division between a professional critic, i.e. A. O. Scott, who is actually paid to tell us his opinion, and amateur critics, i.e. me, whenever I feel like it, sadly, not paid. 

But blogging is not so clear. Is this distinction even a meaningful one for blogging? What is a professional blogger? Is blogging, by its very nature, an non-professional activity? 

My Blogs

In case anyone is interested, here are some of the blogs I read on a regular basis:

Litblogs:

Blog of a Bookslut

Bookstore Guide

Critical Mass

Maud Newton

Paper Cuts

The Elegant Variation

Not strictly "lit," but intellectually-leaning and critical:

About Last Night - Terry Teachout, arts critic for the Wall Street Journal

The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross, classical music critic for the New Yorker

Sir Peter Stothard - Editor-in-chief of the Times Literary Supplement 

Enjoy!

Link

Not exactly what I want to focus on, but UC Irvine hosts a lecture on the ups and downs of purely academic blogging.

What is a Blog? Part II

Here's Wikipedia's definition of "blog:"

"a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order... Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs."

I'm fascinated that the chronological order is what Wikipedia emphasizes first, whereas the OED mentions blogs' frequent updating. Both seem to me to be essential components of what a blog means.  What I'm really interested in determining is the relationship between a Litblog - definition pending - and criticism. What distinguishes them? Are those differences meaningful? Ultimately, should blogging be considered a form of criticism? If so, what kind? Is it ever "published?" 

To that end, I'm also going to be trying to exactly define what "criticism" means, which will inevitably open up a mire of theoretical issues...

A Tangent

Those damn ethicists...

"As Schwitzgebel sums up his research, he found that "contemporary (post-1959) ethics books were actually about 25% more likely to be missing than non-ethics books. When the list was reduced to the relatively obscure books most likely to be borrowed exclusively by professional ethicists and advanced students of ethics, ethics books were almost 50% more likely to be missing."

What is a Blog?

I started at the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED claims that "blog" was first used in 1999, but for a complete definition of the word, it sends you to "weblog." This word was first used in 1997 as is defined as

"A frequently updated web site consisting of personal observations, excerpts from other sources, etc., typically run by a single person, and usually with hyperlinks to other sites; an online journal or diary." 

The first half seem accurate, but the "online journal or diary" seems to be increasingly less accurate. Litblogs, in my experience at least, contain smatterings of personal bio, but, for the most part, stick to linking, specific opinion giving, and critiquing - emo is nowhere to be found. But I want to pick apart this definition in posts to follow...

Article Links

A collection of interesting, litblog-related articles:

Future Reading - Anthony Grafton of the New Yorker on the digitization of books

Blogodemia - A look at a sampling of academic blogs at the Village Voice

Book Smart - A look specifically at Litblogs, also through Village Voice

PH.Dotcom - A discussion of academia and blogging, yet again, from the VV

Borges

Just read a fascinating NYTimes article on Borges and the digitization of information. I read a few of the essays this article mentions in Labyrinths, which is really an amazing collection of stories, many of which deal with topics in literature, text, and information. 

In "The Library of Babel," I was struck by the way Borges presented a highly theoretical conception of knowledge in an extremely physical way: much of his discussion centers around the physicality of the library, its volumes, its size, and its specific organization. Yet, the library is impossible to visualize for the very scope that Borges assigns to it, eternal and all-encompassing, defies visualization. Thus, I began to consider the relationship between physicality and the internet, and the way the internet's scope also defies visualization. This defiance is an important aspect, I believe, of the hesitancy surrounding digital information - the information has no clear physical form or manifestation. 

"The universe, which others call the library..." Labyrinths, 51.

In the Beginning

Welcome...

The purpose of this blog is two fold. First, to serve as an interactive, dynamic, and unfolding record of my project on litblogs. Here, I hope to post both my discoveries and thoughts on litblogging as they progress and change through my investigations. Secondly, this blog is an opportunity for me to directly engage in the very phenomenon that I am studying. Thus I hope to intersperse my research posts with more general posts on books, reviewing, and criticism. 

As my academic interests have thus far tended toward the ancient, old, and dead -  ranging from the Classics, to the Renaissance, to Modernism - this foray into contemporary culture is a new experience and challenge for me. Therefore, posts, responses, and guidance are encouraged and appreciated. 

I'm excited to begin!