Cultivated literary personas are nothing new. I can't find the article, but I once read how Kurt Vonnegut basically completely remade his personality and appearance to sell his books.
Great piece. A "thin thematic layer" is a great way of putting how oddly empty so much of contemporary literature sometimes seems. It's so frustrating to start a book with a rich premise and then end up on a rigid guided tour of the least interesting parts.
I do have a small disagreement. I don't feel like we are headed towards "....essentially, a terminal unraveling of human meaning driven by immersive AI-powered products and services. " I think this is a very common position in American and Anglo-adjacent circles, which I don't feel is accurate for the rest of the world. Maybe it's because I live in the Global South in a place where our main economic activities are still in the lower rungs of economic abstraction. Our countries bear the brunt of the labor so that people in the Global North can feel like they live in a completely digitized non-material world. Making things feel like they happen seamlessly takes a lot of work.
My working theory is that your societies are basically dealing with a collective version of rich kid syndrome. The archetypal rich kid only needs to pull a lever to get what they want. But pulling a lever to get what you want is extremely boring because a) you don’t get to exercise any agency, and b) it makes your model of the world almost too simple to be meaningful. I can sort of sympathize. I too would be driven to existential despair if my life had the mechanics of a slot machine that can only produce a winning result.
(I do think this theory is a bit too simplistic to fully explain the dread that I feel radiating from a lot of American social commentary, but it’s the best that I’ve got.)
Henry Miller was aura farming on every level – in his work, in his bedroom, in his chaotic personal life – for decades. It made him. He had the artistic energy.
Cultivated literary personas are nothing new. I can't find the article, but I once read how Kurt Vonnegut basically completely remade his personality and appearance to sell his books.
Great piece. A "thin thematic layer" is a great way of putting how oddly empty so much of contemporary literature sometimes seems. It's so frustrating to start a book with a rich premise and then end up on a rigid guided tour of the least interesting parts.
Honestly I had the exact same thought when I read transcendent Kingdom: engaging and well written... But where's the beef?
100%. Very well written on a chapter-by-chapter level, but almost no big questions get answered.
My preferred translation would be 去中心化虛構作品. 小说 isn't so wrong but reads more like novel than fiction.
Thanks!
I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for writing.
I do have a small disagreement. I don't feel like we are headed towards "....essentially, a terminal unraveling of human meaning driven by immersive AI-powered products and services. " I think this is a very common position in American and Anglo-adjacent circles, which I don't feel is accurate for the rest of the world. Maybe it's because I live in the Global South in a place where our main economic activities are still in the lower rungs of economic abstraction. Our countries bear the brunt of the labor so that people in the Global North can feel like they live in a completely digitized non-material world. Making things feel like they happen seamlessly takes a lot of work.
My working theory is that your societies are basically dealing with a collective version of rich kid syndrome. The archetypal rich kid only needs to pull a lever to get what they want. But pulling a lever to get what you want is extremely boring because a) you don’t get to exercise any agency, and b) it makes your model of the world almost too simple to be meaningful. I can sort of sympathize. I too would be driven to existential despair if my life had the mechanics of a slot machine that can only produce a winning result.
(I do think this theory is a bit too simplistic to fully explain the dread that I feel radiating from a lot of American social commentary, but it’s the best that I’ve got.)
Fully in agreement.
Mishima had so much sauce that most of us don't even remember his actual name. I had to google it again to make sure I hadn't forgotten it just now
Henry Miller was aura farming on every level – in his work, in his bedroom, in his chaotic personal life – for decades. It made him. He had the artistic energy.
Congratulations on more publishing success. I like First Things. But I let my subscription lapse. But I will definitely read your article.
This was a great read - thank you for writing it :-)
I hate self-promotion. I cringe at it. I don't want to "manage my brand."
That's probably why my writing has gotten zero attention. ^_^
Ah, well. I'll keep on truckin'. I do enjoy engaging with stuggling artists on Substack.