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Culturally Speaking #8
By Sarah Stodola
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Art and Science are inextricably linked, which has been proven and demonstrated in more than a few studies, both theoretical and scientific. The most obvious one I can think of is that one that says that children who listen to classical music do better at math. However, as this article points out, in the world today these two very general fields have become strangers to each other.
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Here's a great article on how the intelligence available and the decisions made in the Iraq war had no correlation.
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The German intellectual Jurgen Habermas wrote a very important book a few decades ago called The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. In it, he chronicles the historical dependence of the press on capitalism. The press initially emerged in order to provide the information necessary for early capitalists to practice their trade. Once it was established, it evolved into a critical institution. The fact of it is that capitalism and the press have, from both of their infancies, always had a very close relationship. It is even safe to say that they have always needed each other; a very interesting way to look at things.
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According to statistics printed in the Wall Street Journal and acquired from UNAIDS, out of the total population of 43.8 million in South Africa, 5 million have HIV or AIDS. That's over 11% of the population.
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Stephen King was awarded a "medal for distinguished contribution to American letters" at the 2003 National Book Awards on Wednesday night. In his acceptance speech, he apparently blasted the National Book Foundation and the literati in general for failing to recognize the work of such popular American novelists as John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Mary Higgins Clark. These authors are to books what action flicks are to movies (well, in fact, many action flicks are derived from these books). And although everyone enjoys a good action flick every so often, no one claims that these are the great movies. The Matrix is the exception, because it made a valid statement about contemporary society. There are surely exceptions in the written adventure/suspense genre, as well, but that doesn't mean that as a whole the genre is anything more than entertainment, and I really think that for Mr. King to claim that it is makes him look a bit silly.
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With the Stephen King bit, I'm not trying to say that only obscure novels that are read by less than 500 people are the only truly worthwhile novels. Popularity surely must account for something. There are a lot of really smart people in this world, and if you can't get more than 500 of them to read your novel, well then that is a reflection of your novel more than it is a reflection of the reading public (or maybe it's your publicist's fault). On the other hand, if 200 million people read a book, you can be sure that the reason is that the novel has been dumbed down to a low common denominator that can accommodate such a large percentage of the population.
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The photos that the New York Times posted on its website as part of its coverage of the bombings in Istanbul crossed a line, I think. There were close-up, detailed pictures of really bloody people, and I am very sensitive to blood and gore. I'll read about it to be an informed citizen, but I don't want to see it unless I have ample time to prepare. And when I click on the Times' site one of the 15 times a day that I do so, I'm not prepared.
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And finally, Gawker is to Moby Lives as primetime network television shows are to HBO series. Take a look at Moby Lives, and you will understand that there is an intelligent, earnest, unpetty, non-narcissistic, un-gawking way to cover the publishing industry.
Click here for last week's Culturally Speaking.
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Sarah Stodola is the Managing Editor of Me Three. She can be contacted at [email protected].
© 2003 Me Three