'Diran, many thanks for yours. You have asked great questions. Warped logic on my part? Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as counter-intuitive logic, lol. I was actually reflecting on hard print (as in hard copy books). Even e-books, to the extent that they are dead text, simply ported to the Internet, are marginally better than hard copy, only in the sense that you can now do random access searches and cut and paste of portions (for review, sharing, etc.)
More substantively, 'Diran, I am fascinated by the politics of literature. How is Africa viewed everywhere, if not primarily through hard copy books? Poverty porn as a perverse genre owes its genesis to representation (of Africa) in hard copy books. I have submitted ad nauseam that in that respect, the book is an inappropriate gauge of Africa's stories, history and circumstances. You would have to look to the great book in the sky, the Internet, to have a well-rounded view of our world, not just Africa. That is primarily where I am coming from. Who speaks for Africa? Beyond Adichie, Habila, Binyavanga, etc, there are also many young and brilliant writers not invested in the West's preferences for a certain (single) story, that are thinking really fresh thoughts. My point.
I think also that African literature as we know it today owes a lot to the generosity/largesse of the West. I don't know of any writer of stature in Africa that has made it without the structure and funding of the West. It is what it is. Well, that has come with a huge cost. He who pays the piper dictates the tune. There has been a lot lost in the translation of our stories for the consumption of a Western paying audience. Many of us who have submitted our works to Western editors will tell you of the gruelling edits that basically make bland certain works. We need the exposure. We comply. Or die. My point, read the literature by writers on the Internet, twitter, or Facebook and enjoy real njakiri, unfiltered by Western eyes and ears. We need indigenous publishing houses.
The need for indigenous publishing houses is in conflict with global trends away from traditional publishing - to digital publishing. I see opportunities there, but sadly many African publishers are welded to a failing business model that relies on hard print. Publishers need to meet the readers where they are - on the Internet, on smartphones, etc. I honestly think it is a myth that there is a poor reading culture. People are reading, they are just not reading books.
Finally, I believe there is still a role for ANA and I support and admire their efforts. I have nothing but immense respect for the current crop of ANA's leaders. I do think that they should reflect and focus strategically on a few good things and do them well. As for being a member of ANA, I am not qualified to be a full member because I have never published a book. In the 21st century. That is absurd.
I salute you.
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
On Friday, November 8, 2013 7:28 AM, Diran <diran_bepo@yahoo.com> wrote:
"The book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing". Ikhide
Of books, good writing and warped logic.
One begins to wonder where Ikhide got this logic from. Simply because of the internet, he summarizes that the book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing? This sounds strange. What parameters are you using, if I may ask, to arrive at this conclusion/confession or confusion?
Even the Internet boasts of e-books, or is it not so? The discovery of e-books and other digital means of erudition obviously has its root in writing. From a set of written sheets of skin or paper, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, or tablets of wood or ivory, book emerged and has been thought several decades of technological advancement to arrive at the Internet, nay, the e-book as we have it today.
Not one , not two members of this forum have expressed the hope that one day, someone might take time out to compile all the exchanges on his platform into a book. Those of us who teach in the Ivory Towers now employ the service of the Internet. Research and teaching obviously relies on books, good books. Dismissing literary composition or writing as not good enough to engage the Internet is unsavory to say the least.
That ANA is competing with the Internet for members, is not a bad development. You and I know that in 1981 when Achebe spearheaded the founding of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, there was nothing like the internet in this part of the world. And after thirty-two years, the body has proved itself and it's objectives, some of which are highlighted in the interview in reference. I have read it and even commended Richard for a job well-done. ANA is not doing badly as it is aware of the far-reaching influence of the digital age versus the book.
If the book is no longer, in your contention, an acceptable yardstick of measuring good writing, when in fact, efforts are on towards reviving the publishing industry, then kindly recommend to us what is? Nigerian writers of literary work and other genres indeed would not hesitate to try out your option if found superior. Why then are we as teachers still recommending reading lists for our students every semester, adding Internet sources , which are often than not sourced from books ?
I am not writing merely because I am a member of ANA. I am writing because I read good books during my teenage years, in secondary school, when we had a full period or two on the time-table for us to be ensconced in the confines of the robustly rich school library. I recall with nostalgia those days as I looked forward to the library period as it afforded me the opportunity to 'eat up' pages upon pages before the bell rang, signaling a return to the classroom. I even went a little further by borrowing books from the library and making sure I read before coming back to school the next day, sometimes as I trekked to school in the morning or trekked home under the sun in the afternoon. I had no shoes then, as many others, but I had books. No wonder GEJ launched the bring- back- the -book initiative recently, and not bring back the shoes!
Perhaps You need to have a rethink.If you assume that internet writing will ever replace the book, inspite of the precarious state of our reading culture, I suggest you Join ANA and help gauge the state of good writing in Nigeria. Don't kill good initiative that began in the 12th century!
Shalom!
'Diran
Mask the priest
Sent from my iPad
On Nov 6, 2013, at 15:53, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing
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Of books, good writing and warped logic.
One begins to wonder where Ikhide got this logic from. Simply because of the internet, he summarizes that the book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing? This sounds strange. What parameters are you using, if I may ask, to arrive at this conclusion/confession or confusion?
Even the Internet boasts of e-books, or is it not so? The discovery of e-books and other digital means of erudition obviously has its root in writing. From a set of written sheets of skin or paper, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, or tablets of wood or ivory, book emerged and has been thought several decades of technological advancement to arrive at the Internet, nay, the e-book as we have it today.
Not one , not two members of this forum have expressed the hope that one day, someone might take time out to compile all the exchanges on his platform into a book. Those of us who teach in the Ivory Towers now employ the service of the Internet. Research and teaching obviously relies on books, good books. Dismissing literary composition or writing as not good enough to engage the Internet is unsavory to say the least.
That ANA is competing with the Internet for members, is not a bad development. You and I know that in 1981 when Achebe spearheaded the founding of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, there was nothing like the internet in this part of the world. And after thirty-two years, the body has proved itself and it's objectives, some of which are highlighted in the interview in reference. I have read it and even commended Richard for a job well-done. ANA is not doing badly as it is aware of the far-reaching influence of the digital age versus the book.
If the book is no longer, in your contention, an acceptable yardstick of measuring good writing, when in fact, efforts are on towards reviving the publishing industry, then kindly recommend to us what is? Nigerian writers of literary work and other genres indeed would not hesitate to try out your option if found superior. Why then are we as teachers still recommending reading lists for our students every semester, adding Internet sources , which are often than not sourced from books ?
I am not writing merely because I am a member of ANA. I am writing because I read good books during my teenage years, in secondary school, when we had a full period or two on the time-table for us to be ensconced in the confines of the robustly rich school library. I recall with nostalgia those days as I looked forward to the library period as it afforded me the opportunity to 'eat up' pages upon pages before the bell rang, signaling a return to the classroom. I even went a little further by borrowing books from the library and making sure I read before coming back to school the next day, sometimes as I trekked to school in the morning or trekked home under the sun in the afternoon. I had no shoes then, as many others, but I had books. No wonder GEJ launched the bring- back- the -book initiative recently, and not bring back the shoes!
Perhaps You need to have a rethink.If you assume that internet writing will ever replace the book, inspite of the precarious state of our reading culture, I suggest you Join ANA and help gauge the state of good writing in Nigeria. Don't kill good initiative that began in the 12th century!
Shalom!
'Diran
Mask the priest
Sent from my iPad
On Nov 6, 2013, at 15:53, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The book is an inappropriate gauge of good writing
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
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For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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