[Nettime-bold] Re: the neo-narrative OR 'the novel is no longer novel'

[fran ilich <ilich_030@hotmail.com>]

josh zeidner <jjzeidner@yahoo.com> said:

> The novel has been dead for some time.  Our new media
> environment accellerates and reterritorializes the
> written[typed] word, taking it beyond the realm of
> linear tangibility.

I wouldnąt go as far as claiming the novel is dead, what I would say is that
narrative has find more outputs, which donąt have the distribution
limitations that a novel has. How many copys of a book can be printed and
even worse how many will be sold and eventually how many of those will be
read?

And I also wouldnąt be that sure that new media, by now, has taken the
"written[typed] word, taking it beyond the realm of linear tangibility." new
media narrative with all the greatest advances and its participatory
characteristics hasnąt been able to give birth to a Crime and Punishment.
And even so, the novel as an authoral medium which is edited to send the
speccific message that the author wants to convey has a lot of advantages
say over a hypertext in some cases, example when an reader is not as thirsty
as to consume all lexias.

also I would add that linear tangibility is too relative. would you say that
a book or a film is linear just because it starts on page 1 and ends at the
last, or because starts at second 1 and ends when the last title rolls? what
about narrative structures, time and rhythm, flashbacks, and so on?

The novel is not what it used to be, and even so, new media is not close of
being what it's supposed to be. But time will tell. As for me, I wouldnąt be
able to take my aways from either novel, film and new media. They all have
different characteristics which makes them unique when it cames to
narrative. And what about sound? the dj as a narrator? sound collage, etc?

nos vemos en el futuro.

ilich.

http://de-lete.tv


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