man, i want to believe that writing has a part to play in getting us through the coming dark ages. i really, really do. but if "writing" no longer produces the kind of durable, beautiful objects that survived the apocalypses of the past—if all our work is just floating in the same digital soup, equally ephemeral—what are we aiming at?
and for that matter—is "writing" what we're doing when we compose myths and hymns, prayers and incantations? those seem like the shelf-stable goods we'll need in the future, rather than essays and grudgingly-serialized fiction (as satisfying as those things are for now.)
i guess that's kind of the point, though: i should be addressing these questions to the daemon. looking forward to learning more!
I share your concerns. And I think you're right about the kind of writing that we'll need for seeding the scorched earth in the hope of a future rebirth on the far side of Armageddon. Most of the things now being created and published won't survive. But maybe authentic myths, hymns, prayers, and incantations, the really transcendent stuff, is most often created (or midwifed) when we're not consciously aware that it's happening. Who knows which contemporary items will end up having transhistorical value and mythic meaning? (That said, we can probably easily identify which items won't. And of course there's always the possibility of detritus being mistakenly elevated to mythic status when removed from its historical context and being later misconstrued, as famously satirized by Walter Miller in A Canticle for Leibowitz.)
excellent essay, thanks for sharing that. it chimes with what i was writing about in my "Phasmatopia" series, albeit from the opposite direction: not the anxiety of trying to preserve the human artifacts that might be lost in the future, but finding our way back into the more-than-human world that's always been there, since we'll be re-entering that world as modernity falls away: https://phasmatopia.substack.com/p/unmapping-phasmatopia-part-3
This is from a review of one of Brian Evenson’s short stories, I will link below. I read this review right after this post, because I had recently read the story. what I found interesting is the lines in her review about being “hooked” and “reeled in”, but from the perspective of the reader and not the author. I found it fascinating that her words reciprocated your thoughts but from a different point in the cycle.
I see what you mean! The use of the same fishing metaphor on the other side of the reader/writer relationship makes a striking inversion. Thank you for pointing it out.
man, i want to believe that writing has a part to play in getting us through the coming dark ages. i really, really do. but if "writing" no longer produces the kind of durable, beautiful objects that survived the apocalypses of the past—if all our work is just floating in the same digital soup, equally ephemeral—what are we aiming at?
and for that matter—is "writing" what we're doing when we compose myths and hymns, prayers and incantations? those seem like the shelf-stable goods we'll need in the future, rather than essays and grudgingly-serialized fiction (as satisfying as those things are for now.)
i guess that's kind of the point, though: i should be addressing these questions to the daemon. looking forward to learning more!
I share your concerns. And I think you're right about the kind of writing that we'll need for seeding the scorched earth in the hope of a future rebirth on the far side of Armageddon. Most of the things now being created and published won't survive. But maybe authentic myths, hymns, prayers, and incantations, the really transcendent stuff, is most often created (or midwifed) when we're not consciously aware that it's happening. Who knows which contemporary items will end up having transhistorical value and mythic meaning? (That said, we can probably easily identify which items won't. And of course there's always the possibility of detritus being mistakenly elevated to mythic status when removed from its historical context and being later misconstrued, as famously satirized by Walter Miller in A Canticle for Leibowitz.)
On the matter of the ephemeral nature of our newly digitized realm of art,, literature, and cultural knowledge, you might find something of interest in a blog post that I wrote some 14 years ago: "Zombies, Digital Media, and Cultural Preservation in the New Dark Age." It talks directly about this very subject. https://www.teemingbrain.com/2009/11/05/zombies-digital-media-and-cultural-preservation-in-the-new-dark-age/
excellent essay, thanks for sharing that. it chimes with what i was writing about in my "Phasmatopia" series, albeit from the opposite direction: not the anxiety of trying to preserve the human artifacts that might be lost in the future, but finding our way back into the more-than-human world that's always been there, since we'll be re-entering that world as modernity falls away: https://phasmatopia.substack.com/p/unmapping-phasmatopia-part-3
I've read a couple of those posts, and they're rock solid. Am setting aside time to read the whole series.
This is from a review of one of Brian Evenson’s short stories, I will link below. I read this review right after this post, because I had recently read the story. what I found interesting is the lines in her review about being “hooked” and “reeled in”, but from the perspective of the reader and not the author. I found it fascinating that her words reciprocated your thoughts but from a different point in the cycle.
https://www.tor.com/2021/07/07/problems-at-the-lodge-brian-evensons-no-matter-which-way-we-turned/
The review in question begins under the header “Anna’s Commentary.”
I see what you mean! The use of the same fishing metaphor on the other side of the reader/writer relationship makes a striking inversion. Thank you for pointing it out.