A website where commentary and/or news on current developments in main stream literary culture are posted and displayed in reverse chronological order.
I think the first part of the definition (the subject bit) is too narrow, while the latter part (about the blog itself) is too broad.
Why confine yourself to 'main stream' literary culture? While I'm sure that makes up the majority of litblogs, the thing about the internet is that people with obscure interests have as much of an outlet as everyone else.
The nature of a blog is also much more interesting than its ability to put the most recent entry first...although it does change the concept of chronology online. What about non-academics publishing? The ability to comment immediately? It is an interesting point though, I've never seen it made so central to a blog's description. Granted, I haven't actually researched it, so maybe it is.
I don't know much about mainstream literary culture, but I wonder if such a thing could exist without blogs. I imagine anyone with a casual interest in contemporary literature would benefit tremendously from blogs. How else might your average-joe gain that chance exposure to the literary world. (Not all of us are fortunate enough to have roomies that keep lit blogs : )
Esoteric lit reviews and publications are precisely the antithesis to easily-accessible blogs, which by many standards are the modern portals to mainstream consciousness.
2 comments:
I think the first part of the definition (the subject bit) is too narrow, while the latter part (about the blog itself) is too broad.
Why confine yourself to 'main stream' literary culture? While I'm sure that makes up the majority of litblogs, the thing about the internet is that people with obscure interests have as much of an outlet as everyone else.
The nature of a blog is also much more interesting than its ability to put the most recent entry first...although it does change the concept of chronology online. What about non-academics publishing? The ability to comment immediately? It is an interesting point though, I've never seen it made so central to a blog's description. Granted, I haven't actually researched it, so maybe it is.
I don't know much about mainstream literary culture, but I wonder if such a thing could exist without blogs. I imagine anyone with a casual interest in contemporary literature would benefit tremendously from blogs. How else might your average-joe gain that chance exposure to the literary world. (Not all of us are fortunate enough to have roomies that keep lit blogs : )
Esoteric lit reviews and publications are precisely the antithesis to easily-accessible blogs, which by many standards are the modern portals to mainstream consciousness.
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