Our research topic focuses on the potential effects of digital media on the diversity of voices in the Canadian literary canon. The following sources are both academic and non-scholarly in nature, gathered from a variety of online sources.
“#DiverseCanLit: Talking about diversity in Canadian literature.” CBC Books. Web. 27 July 2014.
This is a short article accompanied by a radio interview with Léonicka Valcius, a publishing school graduate and host of Twitter-based #DiverseCanLit discussions. Valcius, a woman of colour, describes her experiences with the lack of diversity (ethnic and otherwise) in Canadian literature. Her weekly Twitter discussions, marked by the tag #DiverseCanLit, invite Twitter users to discuss a variety of topics about Canadian literature and diversity. In the past these discussions have ranged from talking about the publishing industry itself to discussing images on the covers of novels. The discussions themselves take place on Twitter itself through its hashtag sorting system. By searching #DiverseCanLit, anyone is able to view past conversations as well as the current topic. And, by including the hashtag in a tweet, anyone can contribute to the conversation as well.
I have chosen to include this interview and the related Twitter discussion because it is a great example of our research topic at work. The discussions that Valcius is creating over social media is an excellent example of how digital technology is helping the diversification of not only literature itself, but also of the discussions surrounding that literature. Absolutely anyone is invited to take part in the discussion and be heard by including the tag #DiverseCanLit in their tweet. Because of this, anyone is able to have their thoughts be seen and discussed by others. Due to the ability to create anonymous Twitter accounts, users can also voice their concerns without worrying about being judged based on who they are.
(Written by Shannon Smith)
Works Cited
Valcius, Léonicka. About. Web. July 27, 2014.
#DiverseCanLit. Twitter. Web. July 27, 2014.
Archbold, Rick. “All is Not Vanity.” Literary Review of Canada 20.7 (2012): 20-21. Web. 27 July 2014.
Rick Archbold is a writer and editor with over 25 years of experience in the Canadian publishing industry. In 1992, he won the Tom Fairley Award for Excellence in Book Editing for his contribution on John Sawatsky’s Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition. He previously taught at the Ryerson Polytechnical University in Toronto, and is now a faculty member at Humber College.
He launches the reader into the world of self-publishing with a case study of his own. He introduces readers to Ward McBurney, a Toronto writer, who also happened to be Archbold’s former student. McBurney was best known for his series of short stories that he read on CBC Radio’s Fresh Air from 1997-2001. In 2001, A select number of his stories were published by a Toronto based publisher Dundurn titled Sky Train. Due to poor sales, Dundurn declined the publication of a second volume of McBurney’s works. He ended up publishing on his own. Simultaneously, McBurney was writing a novel about World War One, titled & After This Our Exile. When finished, McBurney approached Archbold and requested that he read it. Deeply compelled and moved by it, Archbold offered to help McBurney find a publisher. McBurney forwarded the transcript to his former colleague, who read it quickly because it came with McBurney’s recommendation. Unfortunately for McBurney, it was declined, as Archbold cited “it was not his particular literary cup of tea”. “Had he persisted”, wrote Archbold, “I have no doubt McBurney would have found a publisher eventually.” However, he was not prepared to spend months and years seeking for a publisher that would accept his manuscript. He decided to take the road less travelled. The book was launched in the spring of 2008 via the print-on-demand website Lulu and Amazon-owned CreateSpace. At the time of this article, McBurney has sold a respectable number of 350 print-on-demand copies.
After his novel’s release, McBurney maintained a regular blog in which he self-published his writings. A history class at the University of Windsor adopted & After This Our Exile as a required text. In spite of his achievements, McBurney’s novel is not considered to be conventionally successful. Unlike a book from a traditional publisher, his novel was not reviewed nor submitted for a mainstream literary prizes. Not surprisingly, the print media do not accept self-published books for review. Similarly, they are ineligible for prestigious awards such as the Giller Prize or Governor General’s Awards. In light of mainstream standards, & After Our Exile fell into the unfavourable category of “vanity publishing”.
Archbold follows up on the case study with the two technological breakthroughs that have fuelled the trend in self publishing: the development of user-friendly e-readers, and the appearance of affordable print-on-demand technology. He then presents statistics that show the number of self-published titles in the United States from 2010 to 2011. He argues how self-publishing works should not be second-class to traditional publishing, and then lists several reasons why novelists may choose to self-publish. These include increased autonomy, increased speed, avoidance of rejection, receiving a larger share of earnings, and to attract the attention of major publishers. Archbold also speaks of the main challenge of self-publishing, which is getting the book widely-known among potential readers. One of the stand out points of this article is Archbold’s analogy of self-publishing to Wikipedia:
“Self-publishing is at a stage analogous to the early days of Wikipedia, when users were reluctant to trust information contained in a communally written encyclopedia. It turns out that online democracy performs quite an effective self-regulating function. The more individuals who contributed to Wikipedia the more reliable it became. Now it is the first place most people turn to for information.”
Archbold debunks a number of myths and misconceptions which surrounds self-publishing, which is welcoming and uplifting. A number of points in his article intersect those of Larissa Lai’s intervention in Canadian Literature. “Just as there have been many cultural ways of understanding, being in relation with, moving through and taking care of land” (Lai, “Journals in Digital Space: Electronic Circulation, Cultural Commons, and Intellectual Labour”), there are just as many ways of sharing stories through different mediums. The move towards self-publishing will likely contribute to decentralizing the Canadian literary canon. However, does this mean that Canadian literature will lose its shaky identity? Archbold raises a good question: “is the rise of self-publishing the beginning of the death of literature, of works that become part of a culture’s DNA and pass from generation to generation? Will any of the fine novels now being brought into the world be read a hundred years from now?”.
(Written by Jenny Ho)
Works Cited
Herbert, Jo. “Self-Publishing vs. Vanity Publishing. Confused?” Writers & Artists, the Insider Guide to the Media. Bloomsbury, n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.
Lai, Larissa. “Journals in Digital Space: Electronic Circulation, Cultural Commons, and Intellectual Labour.” Canadian Literature 204 (2010): 137-140. Web. 27 July 2014.
“Rick Archbold.” Humber College- The School of Creative and Performing Arts. Humber College, n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.
Bredin, Marian. “Indigenous Media as Alternative Media: Participation and Cultural Production.” Alternative Media in Canada: Policy, Politics and Process. Ed. Kirsten Kozolanka, Patricia Mazepa and David Skinner. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2012. 184-206. Web. 27 July 2014.
Dr. Marian Bredin is an Associate Professor at Brock University and she teaches in the areas of Canadian communication and cultural policy, Media and Minorities, Media Analysis and Canadian Television. She has multiple publications in the media field and she also further explores key questions in Aboriginal media concerns. Dr. Bredin has a reputation for undertaking critical examinations of the history and role of indigenous media organizations, content and audiences in Canada and their growing importance in domestic and global movements for information democracy.
Bredin begins her article with a brief overview of Canadian First Nation media history and how in the early stages of digital media, First Nation media relations were treated alike: meaning they were all generically lumped together. Bredin continues by stating that most Canadian First Nation groups live under neo-colonial conditions with varying factors. A key speculation that Bredin makes in her article is that the emergence of First Nation digital media will be an integral part of political resistance and self-determination movements because it will (and does) reflect complex histories, deconstruction of First Nation stereotypes and of course, technological change. (189) Dr. Bredin further states that First Nation digital media differs from other digital media because First Nation cultural knowledge can be distributed in all its forms such a language, elder accounts, traditional values, past and present documentation of colonialism. (204)
I selected this article because it emphasizes that First Nation digital media challenges the power of the government, that it erodes communication monopolies and also illuminates government threats to indigenous cultural, social, economic and political sovereignty where previously this could never be done on a level where First Nation peoples were heard. Further, Dr. Bredin indicates that digital media has given rise to the First Nation voice and that it is uniting First Nation people more and more through First Nation cyber communities.
(Written by Kristin Kozar)
Works Cited
Bredin, Marian. “APTN and its Audience. ” Indigenous Screen Cultures in Canada. Ed. Marian Bredin and Sigurjon Baldur Hafsteinsson. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2010. 69-86. Web. 27 July 2014.
Bredin, Marian. “Producing Aboriginal Television in Canada: Obstacles and Opportunities.” Canadian Television: Text and Context. Ed. Marian Bredin, Scott Henderson and Sarah Matheson. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2012. 73-94. Web. 27 July 2014.
Bredin, Marian. “The Creation of Publics for Aboriginal Rights in Canada.” Open Democracy: Free Thinking for the World. OpenDemocracy. 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 28 July 2014.
“Marian Bredin, Associate Professor.” Faculty of Social Sciences. Brock University, 2010. Web. 28 July 2014.
O’Brien, Greg. “APTN at Five: Aboriginal Channel has Turned the Corner on its Fifth Year.” Cablecaster 16.5 (2004): 20-1. ProQuest. Web. 9 Aug. 2014.
Richards, Karen B. “The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network: An Institutional Model of Empowerment.” Order No. MR23254 University of Guelph (Canada), 2006. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 9 Aug. 2014.
CBC Radio One. “Shelagh’s Extended Conversation With Thomas King and Leanne Simpson.” The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. CBC Radio One: 24 Jan 2014. Web. 07 Aug 2014.
A part of the ongoing series The Next Chapter, in which Shelagh Rogers spotlights a variety of Canadian authors, including Tomson Highway (who is, apparently, among the sweetest old men on the planet), Nalo Hopkinson and Margaret Atwood, among many others. In this particular entry, Shelagh sits with Thomas King and Leanne Simpson, both Aboriginal writers, at the Kingston WritersFest to discuss storytelling, its place in indigenous culture, and what they believe might be the impact of stories in efforts of resistance and reconciliation. They also touch upon the importance of land and how that might be one of the bigger issues to resolve in terms of reconciliation. This is the extended edition of the conversation, which forms part of an episode that was aired in an edited form, and probably one of the neatest things about it is that you get to hear both King and Simpson tell a story live. It’s also nice to learn that Thomas King seems like a fairly cool guy with a sense of humor, not that we couldn’t have surmised that from reading Green Grass, Running Water.
I originally wanted to cite all of The Next Chapter rather than just a single entry because in it, a wide range of voices in Canadian literature are given a platform to discuss their writings with someone who, judging from her reputation, would take special care to put the spotlight on diverse authors as well as Canadian Literary giants like Margaret Atwood. Though, being a radio show, something like this doesn’t need new media to exist. This particular entry, however, is a special podcast that would extend the dialogue we would have heard on the radio, and is now widely available through the CBC website. This, then, is an example of how new media can help make shows like The Next Chapter more widely available in these web-obsessed times, which in turn gives valuable dialogues like this the possibility of reaching a wider audience.
(Written by Hannia Curi)
Works Cited
CBC Radio One. “About Shelagh Rogers” The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. CBC Radio One, n.d. Web. 07 Aug 2014.
CBC Radio One. “Nalo Hopkinson, Margaret Atwood.” The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. CBC Radio One: 20 Jan 2014. Web. 07 Aug 2014.
CBC Radio One. “Shelagh’s Extended Conversation With Tomson Highway (Encore).” The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers. CBC Radio One: 02 Aug 2014. Web. 07 Aug 2014.
Georgiou, Myria. “Diaspora in the Digital Era: Minorities and Media Representation.” Journal of Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe. 12.4(2013): 80-99. Web. July 27, 2014.
Georgiou argues that digital media needs to be understood as a space where “minorities increasingly communicate interests, make claims and mobilize identities”(Georgiou 81). She focuses on diasporic groups and the effects of communication and expression in media to create and preserve a distinctive cultural and political identity. The crossing of physical boundaries and geographic borders allowed by digital media is discussed, as well the opportunities offered by media to bridge cultural barriers and create connections to a larger whole. She suggests that this use of media to establish a “sense of belonging” and a distinctive cultural identity among “minority” groups has wider implications for the potential of digital media in the creation of a more inclusive national or global identity.
Myria Georgiou is a lecturer at the London school of Economics and Political Science, lecturing in Media and Communications. Her research focuses on the effects of digital media, primarily social media, on the political identity of “diasporic” groups. She discusses ideas of globalization and the effects of digital media on diasporas and physical and cultural displacement, as well as the potential for digital media to offer “minority” groups a global voice and a way of bridging the gaps between social groups. She suggests that all groups are in a sense “diasporic”, counteracting the commonly accepted concept of “minority” voices.
I chose this article for two reasons. Firstly, while Georgiou’s arguments and conclusions focus on displaced and diasporic groups in Europe, I feel her arguments are applicable to many marginalized groups. Her discussion of the power of digital media to offer a voice to these commonly named “minority” groups taps into, in a wider sense, our research goal of discovering the potential for digital media to increase the diversity of voices present in Canadian literary canon. Secondly, Georgiou’s suggestion that all groups are in a sense “diasporic” breaks down the “us” vs. “them” barriers implicit in discussions of “minority” groups, as such terminology seems to automatically imply a superiority of the “majority” voice, offering an uneven relationship between voices, rather than a range of diversity.
(Written by Breanna Simpson)
Works Cited
Global Policy. “Conversations-Myria Georgiou, Lecturer in Media and Communications.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, March 6, 2012. Web. July 27, 2014.
“Using Digital Innovation, CrowdVoice.org Seeks to Amplify Minority Voices in the Middle East.” Interview Transcript. Knowledge@Whorton. Wharton University of Pennsylvania, April 30, 2012. Web. July 27, 2014.
Horowitz, Eli, and Quinn, Russell. “Publishing Companies Are Technology Companies. Now It’s Time For Them To Act Like It.” HuffPost Books. Huffington Post, 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 27 July 2014.
In this joint collaboration by Eli Horowitz and Russell Quinn, they argue how the death of publishing has been greatly blown out of proportions. Horowitz and Quinn are two of four collaborators of The Silent History, which is a novel specifically written and designed for Apple’s iPad and iPhone.
Right off the bat, Horowitz and Quinn acknowledge the grim reality for traditional publishers. There list a number of threats to their livelihood, which include the rise of ebooks, competition from other media, and the domination of Amazon. Thanks to the failures of the music industry made during its transition from physical to digital sales, the publishing industry is attempting to avoid their mistakes by conforming to many aspects of digitization. However, the authors argue that the publisher’s acceptance of their future is not the same as embracing and thriving in the evolution of their industry. It’s not just simply turning physical books into ePubs and PDFs, as true embracement demands more ambition than simply digitizing traditional text. When some publishing companies are trying to fight change attempting to preserve traditional means of work, others are cluing in to how their skills might be applicable to the future. In light of self-publishing and digitization, the smart ones are trying to figure out how to make themselves, as publishers, valuable and necessary in the future.
The embracing of technology, the authors claim, isn’t about “killing books”. It’s about providing both writers and readers with a new, more in-depth experience. Of course, the growth of such technologies have been limited by a number of obstacles. For example, one challenge is the skills required for the integration for text, design, and technology are beyond those of traditional publishers. For those that got their feet wet years ago, financial gains were little to be had. Although success is never guaranteed, the authors stress the importance of early investment in the change. Instead of salvaging what’s left of past practices, they have a unique opportunity to become leaders of a new market.
This article was chosen for the purposes of the project, as Horowitz and Quinn are hyperaware of the power technology has to open up new opportunities for storytelling. The article also points as how a number of writers and storytellers are currently welcoming the changes in publication, which reflects the resistance the traditional system still has to the transfiguration of their industry. The points which Horowitz and Quinn argue for is one perspective to the question that Archbold poses in the above annotated bibliography. Personally, I enjoyed this piece because it shifts the focus on the system storytellers are working around. By highlighting some of the opposition to change, this further reinforces any preexisting literary canons. The potentiality to include a wide variety of voices are halted in this process. If we are to move away from that, the system must also evolve and embrace change, as do the storytellers and consumers.
(Written by Jenny Ho)
Works Cited
Archbold, Rick. “All is Not Vanity.” Literary Review of Canada 20.7 (2012): 20-21. Web. 27 July 2014.
“FAQ”. The Silent History. Ying, Horowitz & Quinn LLC, n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.
Hamid, Mohsin, and Holmesdec, Anna. “How Do E-books Change the Reading Experience?” NYtimes.com. The New York Times, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 July 2014.
Horowitz, Eli. “Eli Horowitz on How Technology is Opening Opportunities for Storytelling.” Video. Youtube.com. YouTube, 2013. Online. 27 July 2014.
Iseke, Judy and Sylvia Moore. “Community-Based Indigenous Digital Storytelling with Elders and Youth.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 35.4 (2011): 19-38. Web. 27 July 2014.
Dr. Judy Iseke is a Canada Research Chair and associate professor at Lakehead University where she teaches courses in Indigenous education and researches Indigenous storytelling. Further, Dr. Iseke has worked with Métis Elders from various communities in Alberta and British Columbia to do research for a program that will focus on First Nation storytelling. Dr. Sylvia Moore has recently received her Ph.D. from Lakehead University and is an independent researcher and a public school administrator in Nova Scotia. Dr. Moore is also a Mi’kmaw mother, grandmother, researcher, and educator and she works in her Mi’kmaw community making digital video with First Nation youth.
This article begins by telling of the potential digital storytelling has to integrate Indigenous artifacts, sacred places, and stories in new innovative ways undreamt of prior between the margins of the white page. (23) (In other words, these stories lost much of their meaning when they were written down.) Further, the authors state First Nation digital storytelling has to be created by or with First Nation peoples for First Nation communities. First Nation digital storytelling will also create more opportunities to understand political activism and will create spaces for First Nation youth to affirm their identity and become agents of social change. Digital storytelling also needs to be fully collaborated with the storyteller through the whole process of editing. Note also that editing is part of the telling; it is about telling a particular version of the story – not necessarily a linear format (beginning to end) but possible only snippets of what the storyteller feels they need to tell.
I selected this article because it elaborates how First Nation peoples are using visual digital media in this age of transformation of technologies to meet the cultural and political needs of their First Nations peoples. Digital storytelling has never been done before because of the previous lack of technology and will lead the way for reviving and maintaining the First Nation cultural storytelling. I appreciate that the Elders’ input in this process is invaluable, but this couldn’t have been done prior to the digital age. This is opening the door to cultures that were slowly losing their cultural storytelling due to the Elders’ who were passing away and not able to leave stories with the next generation.
(Written by Kristin Kozar)
Works Cited
Adelson, Naomi and Michelle Olding. “Narrating Aboriginality On-Line: Digital Storytelling, Identity and Healing.” The Journal of Community Informatics. 9.2 (2013). Web. 28 July 2014.
Cooke, Glenn. “Filmmaker Pays Homage to Metis Women, Including Aunt.” St. Albert Leader. 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 28 July 2014.
“Dr. Sylvia Moore.” Labrador Institute. Memorial University, 2014. Web. 28 July 2014.
“Judy Iseke.” Graduate Studies and Research in Education. Lakehead University, 2013. Web. 28 July 2014.
Ma, Kevin. “Researcher Digs into Near-Extinct Metis Language.” St. Albert Gazette. Glacier Community Media. 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 July 2014.
Moore, Sylvia. “A Trickster Tale about Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in University-Based Programs.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 2 (2012): 324-330. Web. 28 July 2014.
Marshall McLuhan Speaks: Centennial 2011. Marshall McLuhan Speaks, 2014. Web. 29 July 2014.
This site features a lovingly compiled archive of clips regarding the late Marshall McLuhan and his ideas, many of which feature the man himself. McLuhan is known for his theories about the meaning of media in society, coining the phrase “the medium is the message” to describe his belief that the medium by which a message is conveyed defines it. This collection can serve as a primer on his ideas, ideas that are deeply influential to discussions about the media as it exists in this day and age despite having originated about 50 years ago.
I chose to include this in our discussion because McLuhan’s name is often one of the first to come up in meditations on digitization and the new age of technology; the interventions we reference for this project both give him a brief shout out. A cursory understanding of his theories can help form a foundation upon which to build a discussion based around the effects of technology on Canadian literature. A great deal of McLuhan’s philosophy consists of musings on the effect of new technology on humanity, with particular interest on the way the newer generation was influenced by technological changes. He essentially suggests that developments in technology force changes in the way people share and access information. He also predicted that the new media would herald a global village, much like what we see happening today with the World Wide Web. Although his ideas on what it means to be part of a tribe seem rather fearful and reek of the thought of tribal people as savages, it is uncanny that he could foresee the level of inter-connectivity we experience through the media.
In short, including Marshall McLuhan in a conversation about the future of Canadian literature as it relates to the changing media seems a rather logical step, as he is often looming in the backdrop of similar discussions.
(Written by Hannia Curi)
Works Cited
“Global Village (1968)”. Marshall McLuhan Speaks: Centennial 2011. Marshall McLuhan Speaks, 2014. Web. 29 July 2014.
“Global Village (1977)”. Marshall McLuhan Speaks: Centennial 2011. Marshall McLuhan Speaks, 2014. Web. 29 July 2014.
“The medium is the message (1974)”. Marshall McLuhan Speaks: Centennial 2011. Marshall McLuhan Speaks, 2014. Web. 29 July 2014.
Moring, Tom. “Media Markets and Minority Languages in the Digital Age”. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe. 12(4), 34-53. Web. Nov 4, 2013. July 28, 2014.
This article by Tom Moring, a professor at the Swedish School of Social Science at the University of Helsinki, discusses the inclusion of minority languages in digital media. The article focuses on the loss of the use of lesser used languages as the media vy for larger shares of the general audience. One of the most interesting statistics noted in the article is that social media users are much more likely to communicate in minority languages. However, this is quickly countered by statistics that show 30% of minority language newspapers don’t even have an associated website. The article also touches on several examples of failed attempts to include minority language programming alongside that of the mainstream. According to Moring, more often than not, media outlets opt to adopt schedules that include mainstream language content simply to gain a larger viewer base by appealing to a wider audience. However, excellent examples of successful websites in niche languages do exist. For example, the news outlet VilaWeb, which is entirely in the Catalan language. Ultimately, Moring concludes that in order to preserve the variety of languages used on the internet, the media must pay special attention to creating content for both the minority and the majority.
I chose this article because it is a great example of how audiences can be created from niche content. Though mainstream media dominates much of the internet, there is also ample opportunity for websites like VilaWeb to cater to minority consumers as well. The exact same principles can be applied to media for Canadians, if not necessarily by language, certainly by content. The Squamish First Nations website is a great example of this.
(Written by Shannon Smith)
Works Cited
Informació Portada. VilaWeb. July 28, 2014.
Squamish Nation. Squamish. July 28, 2014.
Swedish School of Science. Helsinki University. July 28, 2014.
Shatzkin, Mike.“The Shatzkin Files: Nine places to look in 2014 to predict the future of publishing.” The Shatzkin Files. The Idea Logical Company. January 1, 2014. Web. July 27, 2014.
This 2014 blog post on Mike Shatzkin’s blog, The Shatzkin Files, details nine different changes in the past twenty years in the publishing industry, connected to developments in digital technologies related to publishing and readership. Shatzkin details the “digital transition” in publishing, dating it from the opening of Amazon.com in 1995, and signposting various technological breakthroughs by their effects on how books are created, circulated, and consumed. Shatzkin discusses the main retailers such as Amazon.com and the effects the “digital transition” has had on the publishing landscape. He suggests major conglomerates like Amazon are moving to dominate the publishing market, pushing out smaller, independent publishers.
Mike Shatzkin is a 50 year veteran of the publishing world and a noted expert on the evolution of digital publishing. His firm, The Idea Logical Company, consults for major publishing companies around the world. His above article focuses on the rise of digital publishing and the potential consequences of this evolution, with emphasis on the effects of the “digital transition” on publishing monopolies, predicting a lockout domination of the market by Amazon. Shatzkin’s predictions about the future of digital publishing puts him at odds with many predictions about the enormous potential of self publishing, a topic he notably ignores, and the circulation of materials free of the constraints of large publishing conglomerates which control print sources.
I have chosen Shatzkin’s article for two reasons relevant to our research topic. Firstly, Shatzkin provides a coherent, if somewhat brief, breakdown of the evolution of “official” online publishing over the last twenty years, offering a glimpse of how this “digital transition” of online publishing has developed, providing a grounding from which to base further in-depth research on the topic. Secondly, Shatzkin’s focus on the major publishing conglomerates and his omission of self publishing and independent publishing highlights the arguably necessary shift one should perhaps make in one’s preconceived ideas about publishing and the circulation of literature when thinking in terms of digital media. Shatzkin’s article highlights the problems of using a traditional model of thought for assessing a new phenomenon-assessing the potential of online publishing through the lens on the old non-digital world of major conglomerates.
(Written by Breanna Simpson)
Works Cited
Hyrkin, Joe. “Digital Publishing: How it will evolve in 2014 and beyond.” Issue. GIGAOM, January 4, 2014. Web. July 27, 2014.
“Mike Shatzkin.” The Idea Logical Company. Idealog.com, 2014. Web. July 27, 2014.
Thomson, Dougal. “Relentless.com: Why Amazon will dominate global retail.” The Economist Intelligence Unit. The Economist, April 2, 2014. Web. July 27, 2014.
I am happy to see you getting a good start on your bibliography; I have taken a quick look and these look like excellent and interesting sources. Shannon, you might want to give us a little more analysis of this site; perhaps write us a paragraph that provides some details on the discussion? And, some idea of ‘who’ contributes? Are there published authors taking part in these discussions? I am curious. MOST important, you are meant to list these source alphabetically. You can identify who contributed the source, at the end of the annotation. Thanks – and enjoy 🙂
Hi Hannia!
I liked the source you used for your annotated bibliography.
It seems these days that the way people share information is getting more and more fleeting. (See popular apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and texting versus calling, etc…) Do you think that this short-lived manner of sharing will affect the long term impact of information? In other words, will information shared fleetingly have the same impact if it were shared more ‘permanently’?
They say that once something is on the internet, it’s there forever- What do you think about this?
Hi Julia, just wanted to jump in here and give my two cents. I 100% agree with you about once something is posted on the Internet, it’s there forever (think: Digital Tattoo). However, that’s entirely different from remembering something forever. I say this because I noticed that many people are trying to capture an experience instead of living in the moment/enjoying the experience, which may be problematic, since it may affect the long term retention of information. Having watched the fireworks in Vancouver last week, I saw some people who were focused on photographing/recording/Instagramming/Snapchatting the fireworks and watching it through their phones, instead of watching the sky itself. So fireworks aren’t really going to matter in the long run, but when people focus so heavily on trying to have others hear/see their stories, what kind of impact does that have on the individual?
Hi Jenny-I agree with you about things on the internet being like “digital tattoos” to a certain extent, but I also think things have a greater potential to be simply misplaced on the internet. I thought your observations about the fireworks display was really interesting-I agree that often people in today’s world are more concerned with immortalizing a moment than actually experiencing it in the first place. Could this perhaps be the marking of a shift towards a preoccupation with the virtual world over the physical one? So many people spend so much time existing and living in hyperspace now, that often we almost seem to forget to eat or breath(an exaggeration for the most part, fortunately, but still : ). If we all now have potential to share our stories instantly, as they’re happening, and have some one(lots of someones) listen in real time, what does that say about our experience of the story first hand? I think this shift in how we experience the world will indeed fundamentally change the way we tell stories, but how, and for better or worse or inbetween, how can say?
Hey Julia! I’m so sorry I just saw this now! I hope you’ve been well since you posted this and don’t hate me. I’ve been more or less alright, impersonating a walrus. It’s a time consuming job.
As for your question, I have not considered modern forms of communication as fleeting, save for Snapchat… which I never understood the appeal of and am shocked at how well it’s caught on. I just don’t understand why you’d want to have this service where the point is that you’d send a message and it would be gone in seconds. Then again, it’s a bit like writing in the sand at the beach, if anyone actually did this.
For the most part, what I’ve actually experienced is the internet as a platform to create and live out a character for yourself, in a sense. My eloquence is failing, so… for an example, follow this link: http://www.bustle.com/articles/32177-what-i-instagrammed-vs-what-was-really-happening-or-my-entire-life-is-a-lie. Or rather… this one: http://instagram.com/nyadaffodil. Even though I might come across as a giant, basement-dwelling slob… I consciously exaggerate these characteristics because part of me wants to be seen as funny. I will not make a post on facebook unless I truly feel it’s clever and then sit there biting my nails all day waiting for some kind of reaction. I carefully curate my interests on my tumblr to come across as a cultured person with fine tastes who is so cool she doesn’t care that Rupaul’s Drag Race isn’t exactly HBO programming, because in my heart I know I’m a tastemaker. It feels like the wide internet is my audience and I need to perform. I live for the applause, applause, applause.
So uh… that was a massive tangent that didn’t have much to do with what you actually asked. But I have no idea how to approach the question since I mean…Instagram and facebook can be like the dusty photobooks of the future. I have more experience with people coming across old livejournal blogs and cringing at them than being all about fleeting things. I do think, though, that there is an instant gratification to the way we communicate over electronic means that definitely effects how we feel about our relationship to each other. Have you ever gotten irritated when your status you spent hours crafting doesn’t get so much as a like? I remember being very upset when facebook chat started indicating when your message was seen because I saw that sparking so many arguments over knowing someone has seen your message but hasn’t replied yet. I don’t know if I really answered your question and this i getting a bit long so…yeah this is my experience. What’s yours? Tell me more about your thoughts!
Hi Hannia!
I do know what you mean when you talk about wanting (hoping for?) that gratification in terms of number of likes or notes or comments.
I think it’s pretty common for people of this generation. We all think we have taste and are looking for approval, a head nod, an acceptance. And that when we find that approval, it’s the best feeling, it’s the literal acknowledgment that what we say/think has value and has meaning and is important to someone other than yourself. (I think this is why fandoms exist and also why people get very excited when they have the same otp)
…Putting this all down in words is kinda gettin’ me down.
I also think that this allows people to push the limits of truth a bit more. You know, allow a little more creative liberty when posting that status about that thing that just happened. In order to fulfill our need for gratification, we have to tweak it in order to procure the most amount of acknowledgement.
What do you think? What do you think this means in terms of the future of storytelling?
PS, I do think you’re funny!
Yes!!! I hear so much about fandom just being a way for people who like the same things to come together and feel like they’re not alone in caring so much about a piece of entertainment. I’ve made friends over having the same Harry Potter otp as a girl in my class and we shared fanfics and everything. She’s a lovely person and I’m glad I met her… and it might not have been possible without this sharing culture.
I’m trying to synthesise my thoughts so this might be a bit disjointed. But for the future of storytelling… I did an Arts Internship with a company that specializes in digital storytelling. We would do “real-time storytelling” expeditions where we would go places and just live tweet/instagram what we did; we went to the Museum of Vancouver and just snapped away and my biggest challenge was coming up with snappy taglines on the spot. But, the point is, this is something I did on a job. You can see marketing trying to capitalize on new media with things like crafting the sort of ads that will go “viral” and such and such… and on a mainstream level notice how most news networks of any repute have twitter accounts? A CBC podcast I listen to is on instagram. Most of this is supplementary content for more traditional forms of storytelling, or well, “traditional” in the sense that it’s what we’ve been doing for a decade and a bit, but you can see some convergence there. My 1st year Journalism class was all about how new media was changing the face of modern journalism. I think it would be impossible for any sort of stories that are trying to reach an audience to not be affected by social media and how there just needs to be that extra side to stories nowadays.
But I think on a personal level we can get very focused on making the story of our lives just so, and this can be very stressful. I thought about blogging as a career because writing is my strength, but can I really come up with that much stuff to say? My real life is really dull and monotonous but it seems like nowadays you need to have something to show on your social media channels to stay relevant. And going back to a company level, I know from my experience that maintaining those social media channels for companies is a time-consuming job if you want to give it a more personal approach. Like damn, didn’t you notice how much time you spent actively commenting and replying to comments during our blog assignments? I kinda gave up because I am a horrible student but I know this kind of thing is a JOB.
p.s: girrrl, u in any fandoms? which ones?
Hi Jenny! Thanks for jumping into the discussion-
And I can totally relate to what you said about the people watching the fireworks through their screens. I was in a similar situation, and in fact I actually found that it took away from my experience and impacted it in a negative way.
I’ve seen the same thing happen at concerts too. I went to one concert last year and in the beginning of the show, the performer said, “Okay, I know you all want photos and videos, and you want to remember this moment digitally. We are going to have two minutes where you can take as many photos and videos as you want, and then I’m going to ask everyone to put away their phones and cameras until the show is over.”
And him saying that actually worked! Everyone got their photos and put away their devices. The concert ended up being one of the best I’ve ever seen. Everything seemed much more natural, fun, and most importantly, special. Because everyone had focused their full attention on the performance they were able to savour it more and be ‘in the moment’. It was in a way, incredible.
I guess to answer your question, I would say that technology and ‘sharing culture’ has made it so you are never forced to give your attention to any one thing for a long period of time. You can always go back and look again, or search for that picture, or re-watch that video. There’s no need to take it all in and appreciate it in the moment anymore.
Anyway, that’s just what comes to my mind- what do you think?
Hi Julia- wow, that must be an amazing concert! Who was performing?I’ve been to way too many this year now, and I admit that I can get carried way taking photos and videos- I really try to cut that down significantly now. Side note, there was one year where I lugged my DSLR to take photos of the fireworks at English Bay. I felt like I was preoccupied with trying to take the “perfect shot” instead of enjoying the show. This year, I ditched the camera and only took a couple photos on my phone. I was able to enjoy the show way more.
What you say about “no need to take it all in and appreciate it in the moment anymore”- unfortunately, I think that’s the mentality of a lot of people now. Sure, they can go back to relive the experience, but it’s not the same. This is what I learned from my Cultural Psychology class, which I’ll never forget, for whatever odd reason: the MEMORY of an experience changes over time, but the experience itself doesn’t. So while one can always go back to look at their self-documents experiences, I would argue their experience of re-watching/seeing it are different from experiencing the moment.
Hi Julia,
Just wanted to add my opinion here-great question for inspiring discussion by the way : ). I do think that in some ways, the internet, particularly sites like Tumblr or services like texting or IMing make information both easier to circulate and harder to hold onto. Yes, paper can be burnt or torn or dissolved or destroyed, but its not very likely to be accidently deleted or simply lost in lines of code or pages of bookmarks. And nobodies ever heard of a book that overheated and melted its circuits(I think). But, we’ve all encountered that book or article or poem that went out of print, or was edited badly, and simply doesn’t exist anymore. On the internet, the potential for thinks to be retweeted, reblogged, copied, shared, pasted, messaged, and istagramed astronomically increases the likelihood of some information surviving and having an impact. But, in a world where the sheer volume of content out there has increased astronomically, what will become of the information of today-what effect will the literature of now have on the future, since the very fabric of literary canon is shifting astronomically?
In response to Julia, Jenny, and Breanna (good discussion team 😉
I think the question of what is permanent on the internet, and “what will become of the information of today” (to quote Breanna), and what effect this will have on literature, is further discussed in the intervention “Back to the Future” by Christl Verduy. Her hope is that with the growing advancement of technology, we will be able to archive our literature so much better.
I think Breanna you have a valid concern that with so much information on the internet, some of it is bound to be lost in the sheer quantity of information. But consider how many books have been lost in fires. Consider the beautiful poem written by a college student that was thrown out with the boxes of school paperwork. Consider the conversations authors have had in coffee shops, and have walked away from, having shared it with only the few people that were around to listen.
We may have people that are lost in their technology today and are watching the fireworks through their screens, but finally, consider the positive impact archiving our smaller literary feats can have. Twitter opens up discussion between authors and the public. Blogs save aspiring poets work, and help spread them. 40 years from now, I’ll be able to log into my Tumblr account and find all of the work I wrote, regardless of how many times I move and throw things away. I think Christl Verduy has a great point worth considering when it comes to the permanency of the internet.
Hi Milica,
I agree that the internet allows a sense of permanency that printed texts often don’t, particularly through mass circulation and “cloud” storage. I found your comment about Tumblr interesting, in one sense, as it contains an implicit assumption that the methods and mediums of creating and circulating information that have surfaced in this digital age will still exist in 50 or a hundred years. Many take the existence of books as a timeless fact, when books as we know them have only truly been around for a couple centuries. What then will become of things like Tumblr or Twitter, and if they phase out like so many sites over time on the internet, what will happen to the information stored on them? A webpage is perhaps much easier to delete than a library-it draws less attention at least. And it’s certainly quieter.
I totally see what you mean. I didn’t consider how many times I’ve lost photos on computers that have crashed, or had something deleted online, making it virtually non-existent.
It makes me consider oral traditions of storytelling, and the true impact violent acts such as the Indian Act had on wiping out entire cultural histories. In this light, it’s amazing to even consider how some of these stories survived, amid the very strong, active endeavor the Canadian government had to try and silence people.
It seems that this discussion has a growing consensus that the internet is less permanent than say books and traditional means of storytelling. If the internet itself is on several levels considered an inappropriate medium for saving/archiving peoples stories, can it be used alongside other mediums to make them more permanent? For example, do you think it’s appropriate to have traditionally oral stories manifested as well through youtube? My source on Marie Clements’ play “The Unnatural and Accidental Women”, mixes traditional Native storytelling with technology. On a creative level, it’s beautifully done, and I think it is powerful. But on an everyday level, for the average person looking to tell their story, do you think there’s a place for this to be possible? What I mean to say with this last question is, the average person will probably not have the time, or capacity to traditionally present their story through dance and song, and then incorporate expensive technological measures. What then would be a meeting ground, and compromise if not the internet?
^^^^ This @ Milica.
Hello Kristen Kozar!
I think you made a valid point on how First Nation digital media challenges the power of the government and a clear example of this was Twitter couple years back that played an important role in helping spread global awareness of the Arab spring coverage or even recently with the Israel and Gaza situation. I remember Idle no More used webinars and live streams for their movement platform. The author of your article as you mention points out that in the early stages of digital media, First Nation media relations were treated alike and generically lumped together. Why do you think the early First Nations media relations were treated alike?
After reading your citation it really made me think of how technological change coincides with social movements. An example of this is our first impression of this course – when we would hear about digital media used as means for decolonization, many of us thought the basic – facebook and twitter being to spread the message. But after learning about the advancements of digital literature along with work of ‘narrative decolonization’ technological advancements and digital media are continuously growing together and scholars are using digital media in different ways.
Digital media and literature is something that really allows me to dig further. Throughout this course we learned about storytelling and orality along with forms of narrative decolonization. It has always made me wonder how might digital media and oral history gain further acknowledgements and acceptance towards the greater Canadian society. We also learned that stories change and evolve as they are told again and again, how might digital media/ literature further influence this?
“Live Stream and Webinars.” Idle No More. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. .
Hi Bobby.
‘Idle No More’ is a FANTASTIC example of current media that helped explain and promote the cause. In answer to your question about why I think early First Nation media relations were treated alike, I’m going to first make reference to film making until, I would say, the 1960’s. I feel we were well into the 60’s before it occurred to filmmakers that Native people were still around, and even leading interesting lives. In regards to Early First Nation media relations being treated alike, I think it simply boils down to First Nation peoples not having a digital media presence, meaning that it was not First Nation peoples running the First Nation cultural media sites. How can one represent the uniqueness of each individual person or First Nation when one is not First Nation themselves? Topics about First Nation peoples were almost exclusively, in my opinion, confined to the news in the early media age. To reach wider audiences, journalists would dispel cultural particularities. This meant the oversimplification, fragmented and misrepresentation of First Nation peoples cultural identities. Further, community-geared radio or television channels that did respond to specific cultural needs were broadcast mostly in northern Canada at the time. Therefore, cultural and social information about First Nations peoples was not available in the mainstream media.
In reference to your second question, stories do change and evolve as they are told in First Nation culture but I have a different understanding of this. I like to put it as the geography of the story can change but not the meat and potatoes of it. I feel the most important qualities of First Nation culture is the language and stories. In oral traditions, telling stories is how history is passed on and teachings of their ancestors and teachings in the form of stories are an integral part of their identity. Because of this, though some aspects of the story might change, the purpose of the story will remain the same. Also, because First Nations people are losing their oral traditions more rapidly as elders are passing away and the younger generation isn’t learning them as they once did, I feel digital media is an amazing tool to be able to capture and hold on the oral traditions so they aren’t lost forever.
I hope I answered your question.
Kristin
Hello Breanna Simpson
I enjoyed reading your bibliography and summary. It is interesting because after learning about digital media in this course I would always understand it from the minority point of view especially with the focus of Indigenous communities. I like how you point out from her article that the use of media is to establish a sense of belonging and a distinctive cultural identity has implications in the creation of a more inclusive national/ global identity. This made me think of how if a specific group were to create awareness, social media has the powers to create that into a more inclusive identity – one prime example is being ‘Canadian’ and the implication that has on Indigenous and non-indigenous groups who are working together.
I think this brings the discussion of us vs. them and the complexities it has with the various groups who are working together and challenging the ‘majority’. I agree with how using terminology such as us of them we are automatically implying a superiority towards the majority group and as you mention an uneven relationship. I think it is important to consider that where do the Indigenous youth fit in here? How are the Indigenous youths responding to this global identity? With social media crating this universal image and universal identity towards a greater cause and focusing on many related issues- how might they respond to this towards the future?
Hi Bobby-I glad you liked my summary. I found all of your points quite interesting and valid, particularly your mention of Indigenous youth and voices getting lost in the new “global identity”. I think, for many groups of young people, the growing trend towards a global, inclusive identity that bridges gaps and smoothes out differences can be a fraught path to follow. How is a group to establish an identity for themselves, when the trend is towards a “universal identity”? I’m not sure, but perhaps a move towards an “inclusive” but distinctly diverse global identity is a possibility?
Sorry for piping in but I had a thought after I read this comment.
Chief Isadore Day (Serpent River First Nation) was quoted, “Our young First Nation population understands the issues and with social media across the country they are bringing the issues to the forefront.” I added this quote because First Nation youth activism is on the rise continually since social and digital media have come into play. I feel this has given a platform for First Nation youth to publicly voice their concerns and play a part in activism and awareness and further, First Nation leaders are more easily able to interact and connect with the youth. I want to add that there are now nation wide support groups on Facebook and blogs to help First Nation youth whether it’s addictions related, mental illness, activism, poverty, etc. The high school drop out rate and suicide rate for First Nation youth is dropping in Canada and enrollment into Post Secondary schools is on the rise. I think social media is playing a part in the empowerment of First Nation youth in Canada. From a personal perspective, it gives hope and a future where it seemed so bleak because First Nation youth can relate and find support Nationwide or worldwide and not feel completely isolated – which is a large cause for the issues I discussed.
I probably didn’t answer the question properly but this is where my head went.
Hey Jenny,
That was quite an interesting analysis of Rich Archbold’s review. I definitely thought Vanity Publishing had a different connotation, and the hyper-link helped clear that up.
More importantly, the analysis got me thinking about the alternative routes available to authors that are writing about non-mainstream issues, or that are marginalized by age, ethnicity, culture, and many other factors that limit the scope of what we are offered as Canadian readers. It’s interesting that digital self-publishing has offered such an opportunity for smaller, yet equally important voices to be heard. It makes me think about the way micro organized things, be it economics, or in this case, literature, can have a from-the-ground-up result, rather than a trickle down one, where voices that are alternative to the norm can hopefully balance out what we consider the norm.
While the positive outcomes to self-publishing literature seem to be many, what do you think about the lack of support when it comes to self-publishing? While many authors that self-publish are successfully finding alternate routes to offer up their literature, does this technology isolate people? And how does this effect the smaller, unheard stories that may need more encouragement and backing from large publishers?
Hi Milica, great questions. I think the biggest reason behind the lack of support for self-publishing is because it’s still a fairly recent phenomenon. Self-publishing still in its early stages- because of that, maybe there’s less evidence of “success”, and the margin for failure might appear to be larger than it actually is. In other words, more credibility needs to be established. Self-publishing is probably partially stigmatized, as it might appear that writers that may have run out of options might resort to this method.
Your second question- yes, technology can connect people to each other and isolate at the same time. It’s a bit ironic if you think about it. For example, one can spend time conversing and connecting with readers of fan fiction on fanfiction.net, yet they may be locked up inside a room with their laptops, isolated from the “real world”.
As for your last one, I’m not sure if you’re referring to technology isolating people or self-publishing affecting smaller, unheard stories. Could you clarify?
Hi guys-hope you don’t mind me chipping in too the discussion. Jenny, I agree with what you’re saying about self-publishing lacking the age and notoriety necessary for it to be considered “credible”, although I think this lack of support from some quarters also speaks to the shifting in the way people think about publishing, and other “official” things, since the rise of digital media. Before, things such as indie films and publishing were marginalized and only reached a small audience, where as now, the internet gives these indie endeavors a platform, an audience, and a voice. I think self-publishing relates to a phenomenon which is changing how we think about the expression and transmission of information, what is “valid” and what is not, the phenomenon of the digital age.
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for the thought you put in to trying to answer some of those questions.
What I was trying to ask in the last one, was:
Do you think the backlash to having small self-publishing companies is that individuals who use self-publishing companies do not have the support that they would receive from publishers if they were to go the route of large publishing companies?
My guess is that it would depend on if they were denied by the larger companies to begin with. I couldn’t see too many people going the route of self-publishing if they had the option of a large publishing house. But that may be because I’m not a writer and am more or less ignorant when it comes to publishing.
Hi Milica, yes, I think a large part of the backlash is due to the fact that there appears to be less support in self-publishing companies. My first thought was the same as yours- why would writers choose to go independently, rather than with a large publishing company that can possibly get the author’s name known in public? But with the “support” large publishers can offer, writers would have to give up some of their autonomy. In other words, they likely have less control over the editorial process. There is no real “winning” situation- you give and take.
Hey Jenny, I am really interested in Rick Archbold’s article about self-publishing, specifically the Wikipedia analogy saying how the more people contribute, the more self regulating it becomes. I am currently working on a self-published poetry/illustration zine and this made me think about the growing zine culture for artists and writers in Canada, and how this effects the larger Canadian publishing system. I know that, typically, even a best-selling author only makes about 10% of the books profits (according to Nancy Lee), and the publishing company makes up to 90%. I find this highly frustrating and hope that self-publishing will flourish to challenge this and support voices who have excluded from the mainstream publishing realm. This also brought to mind the underground literary culture that resisted the larger political literary culture of strict censorship in the former Soviet Union. Writers would secretly trade and distribute manuscripts, allowing the readers to only keep the manuscript for only a couple hours at a time to ensure secrecy of the documents. After the Velvet Revolution much of this literature became public and played a very important role. Not only did it allow important reflection about what the country had just went through, and for those who did, survived, but it also provided important evidence of how people really thought and felt during that time when freedom of speech was not allowed. Although the situation here is significantly less extreme, there can be some comparisons when publishing companies control who we hear and when. When you really think about it, what role do publishing corporations have with discreet Canadian censorship?
Hi Bara, thanks for your comment. If Nancy Lee is correct, I’m surprised that even best-selling authors make so little money. I was always aware that authors made less than publishers, but not by that wide of a margin. I understand your frustration- if I was a writer, I would be too. Writers put in way more time and work (in my opinion) than publishers do. The authors that are well know (ex: JK Rowling) are probably the exception.
As for the role publishers have with “discreet Canadian censorship”- well, they definitely have a hand in it. I’m thinking publishers are semi-aware of it. Anything that publishers think would have the potential to sell well would likely be published, whereas anything that’s more niche may not, and therefore would not be published. Years ago, I’ve briefly interned at a small publishing company on Granville Island. I don’t know how often manuscripts were accepted by the publisher, but for manuscripts that were accepted, the publisher has quite a bit of influence. For example, they would assist with typography, covers, editing, etc. Although it’s obvious that publishers have a lot of power in choosing what types of manuscripts are accepted, the finer changes they would like to see add up to quite a lot.
I also don’t know a lot of the Canadian publishing houses, but I wonder if most are the Canadian version of a US publisher. For example: Scholastic, Scholastic Canada; HarperCollins, HarperCollins Canada. How do you think that might play a role in the Canadian literary canon?
Hey Jenny,
You bring up a very important point. It got me thinking, and I looked to the HarperCollins Canada website and I found this really interesting: “HarperCollinsCanada Ltd was created in 1989, the result of the worldwide merging of two long-standing and prestigious publishing companies, the American company Harper & Row and the British publisher William Collins & Sons Canada, Ltd.” (harpercollins.ca). This merge emphasizes the influences of Britain and America both have over Canada, literary canon and otherwise. To tie this with what we were discussing earlier, if the influences of the publishing companies ultimately control what we read and what voices and stories we hear, the fact that the companies have come from both Britain and America, rather than originating as Canadian, most definitely shapes our cultural exposure and therefore perspective. How would our culture, our perspectives, our narratives differ if our leading publishing houses had developed independently? Its hard to say. There are publishers, however, who have developed from Canadian roots, but they do seem to be slightly shrouded in the shadow of the larger companies. According to the Random House website, they say that “In 1986 the company established its own indigenous Canadian publishing program that has become one of the most successful in Canadian history.” (notice Indigenous written with a small I) So perhaps the umbrella and support of successful publishing companies allows support, financial and otherwise, for positive Canadian programs. This could be, however, a bias statement as it is directly from their own website. I think what this calls for is more research!
Hi Bara, this definitely calls for more research! As if Canada isn’t already on the receiving end of comparisons made between us and the United States already, the British/American influence of HarperCollins Canada and other major publishers doesn’t do much to help break free from our history.
Hi Hannia,
Thanks for providing this podcast to your bibliography. I just finished listening to the particular episode you mentioned with Thomas King and Leanne Simpson and really enjoyed it. The power of story-telling has been a consistent theme throughout this course, particularly its use to preserve culture, but I particularly found interest in the idea of story-telling as a tool for reconciliation. Placing emphasis on creating stories that expand beyond your experience and include others is a way that both King and Simpson were able to capture this. For example when they read “A Short History of Indians in Canada” it captures the fearful feeling of being in a new place and simultaneously feeling comfortable around people who you can relate to, and this story expands beyond just the Aboriginal experience making it close and relatable. Once you get into the relationship between decolonization and stories however, it becomes a more difficult task however. Simpson says stories work to validate experiences, and more importantly, to travel from community to community, and though this is indeed powerful, I wonder if it’s enough to create significant political and social changes for the Indigenous community. King shows a little hesitance when asked this question, and I must agree. No doubt, this is a powerful tool, particularly for Canadian Aboriginals because, as King says, they’re not Canadian, they have traditions and history that separate them. Stories preserve the community and travel across the world to share its impact, but what is your take on their ability to bring about political and social change in their efforts to reconcile?
Thanks,
Rabia
PS: If you get the chance check out my post on our blog, it might spark some interesting dialogue 🙂 https://blogs.ubc.ca/technologiestowardgreatercanliterature
Hi Rabia!
First of all, let me gush about that story. By which I mean “A Short History of Indians in Canada”; a lot of it flew over my head when I first heard it because I tend to listen to podcasts while doing other things and lose focus, but thinking about it later… wow, it really was a big story, tragic yet told with that wry sense of humour I loved from reading Green Grass, Running Water. I also loved Simpson’s story about the “smart berries”. The stories were just do good, y’all. (And I strongly recommend saving the conversation with Tomson Highway for a day when you’re feeling blue. The man is full of love and positivity.)
As for your question… first of all, Simpson’s input on the matter sounds very familiar to me, as someone who spends far too much time on tumblr. Media representation is a hot topic among almost every member of a marginalized group with a blog; I’m surrounded by stories of people sharing that moment where thy saw a character that was like them and how it made them feel validated. I’m also surrounded by those same people demanding to see more, sharing bits of media where they see their stories reflected, and generally responding very well to seeing their reflection in the media they consume. There is a sense of being tired of exclusion, and I’m not sure this is entirely about making big changes in politics and reconciliation.
Here’s a 30-second youtube video that I think really encompasses what is so important about different kinds of people being included in mainstream media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnEb6ueMu3I. Glozell crying over seeing a black Disney princess and then proudly saying that she’s a princess too; it’s not about sweeping political change, but about bringing people that validation that they can be anything they want. There’s a story I read about how Whoopi Goldberg was determined to be on Star Trek because when she was a child, she saw Uhura on tv and was delighted at seeing a black person who wasn’t a maid, and at that point she realized /she/ didn’t have to be a maid. Seeing these images can empower and strengthen people. Simpson also talks about how she wants her children and their children to grow up comfortable with their heritage and who they are, and media representation can do this. It might not solve the land conflict, stories alone probably can’t do that, but it can help young Indigenous people feel their value.
So I definitely feel stories are as important as Simpson says they are; though I don’t know if they can bring about change on their own, they play an important role. And that’s my opinion. What do you think?
Hannia,
I am right there with you- “A Short History of Indians in Canada” was very entertaining. Not just because King is so talented in story-telling, but also since it evokes a skewed sense of comfort, something truly unique to the story. Ah and yes Simpson’s story was great too. I love how she was nervous around King, she came off so humble and kind, and yet still so talented in engaging in her story. The dialogue of how she was influenced by King was also quite notable, it captures how the tradition of story-telling travels through generations and is able to spark feelings of resonance within different types of people.
Maintaining this idea of stories traveling and evoking similar feelings in different groups, I think it’s undoubtable that stories play an important role in mainstream media. The link you provided validates that belief as well. I agree with your take that they are important, but may not necessarily spark social or political change by themselves. In a mainstream arena stories are a powerful tool today and throughout history have always been a source of uniting ideas or provoking a sense of urgency within a group of people. I think that this ability to provoke is key since it can induce action that bring social and political change. But I think we’re on the same page here, that there needs to be something more than just the stories traveling amongst people.
Hi Rabia and Hannia,
Hope you guys don’t mind me chiming in, but Rabia’s point about the fact “there needs to be something more than just the stories traveling amongst people” ties in really well with concerns about storytelling on the web, about whether instant communication and less regulated forms of expression allow more meaning to be conveyed in a story, or less. Will more people being able to express a wider diversity of stories-following King’s advice of “don’t like the literary canon, create another one”(paraphrased)-add to the potential for stories to create connections and bring meaning across, or will the meaning become diluted and lost in the maelstrom of voices? Or perhaps, it will allow for people to each find their own sense of meaning in a story: http://iamstory.com/psychology/meaning-in-stories/
Hi there all,
Since I am arriving late in the game, I thought instead of commenting to one annotation I would try and pull out some themes I saw running through your page I found very exciting, and tie them into some things my group is discussing on our Indigenous Feminisms page. My intention here (Erika)is that this one comment will act as my two comments because of its length and explorations.
In this day and age, as we’ve all been exploring, the web is radically changing the way we live and even conceptualize our lives.
Your research topic looks at the, “potential effects of digital media on the diversity of voices in the Canadian literary canon”. Some of the point I found most interesting can be seen as follows.
In Archbold, Rick’s, “All is Not Vanity”, you outline the journey of a man who in every sense of the word, and world resisted the limitations of the publishing industry by using the web to his advantage. During this venture you outlined Rick’s hurtles, one of them being his inability to be acknowledge for literary awards. My knee jerk reaction to this mimicked similar feelings I get from unjust forms of oppression which exist within the beauratic system…
In relating this annotation to my groups blog, Indigenous Feminisms and Decolonizing Stories, parallels can be drawn which speak to the complexities and systemic oppression that exists within all industries, due to the foundation on which it was built. A good example of this can be seen in my team mate Jess’s annotion regarding Leanne Simpson in “Islands of Decolonial Love”. Here Simpson addresses similar concerns to Rick regarding systemic colonial oppression and the changing literary Canon, by using her wits and the tools which are available (in this case) to approach the project of writing in an Indigenous way, for her this meant incorporating oral forms of storytelling into her works to transcend the boundaries of the literary Canon, something your group speaks to in Iseke, Judy and Sylvia Moore. “Community-Based Indigenous Digital Storytelling with Elders and Youth. Here you also bring up an extremely powerful and important point that,
“First Nations digital storytelling has to be created by or with First Nation peoples for First Nation communities”. The magnitude of what digital storytelling can do to expand the Literary Canon (and stand apart from), to include various modalities of Indigenous storytelling is huge and endless. Not only can it begin to break down the barriers of relying on publishing companies, due to more and more Indigenous film makers such as Elle Maija Tailfeathers and Lisa Jacksons (as discussed on my groups page), ethnographers and community member learning the tricks of the trade are also able to engage in these practices, furthering still the possibilities for telling stories in meaningful ways.