All of these novels point to a new future wherein the self is considered a living thing composed of fictions. Although critics will endlessly retread tired discussions concerning fiction vs. reality (and therefore the exhausted conversation about “realism”), that isn’t really what’s at stake here. What’s happening is that new novels… are redistributing the relation between the self and fiction. Fiction is no longer seen as “false” or “lies” or “make-believe.” Instead it is more like Kenneth Burke’s definition of literature as “equipment for living.” Fiction includes the narratives we tell ourselves, and the stories we’re told, on the path between birth and death.
Tag: 12.31.14
Study: How Musical Complexity Correlates With Popularity
“We show that changes in the instrumentational complexity of a style are related to its number of sales and to the number of artists contributing to that style. As a style attracts a growing number of artists, its instrumentational variety usually increases. At the same time the instrumentational uniformity of a style decreases, i.e. a unique stylistic and increasingly complex expression pattern emerges. In contrast, album sales of a given style typically increase with decreasing instrumentational complexity.”
Do People Who Love Tolkien Have A Deep-Seated Hatred For Democracy?
“Moorcock’s literary agitation shook the fantasy and science-fiction establishment and made it possible for writers to step outside the long shadow of Tolkien and other fantasy devices.”
How Data Is Changing Our Relationships With Customers
“Data now feels so central to business success that without an ongoing, data-mediated relationship with their customer base, we may be looking at an environment where data-poor brands will struggle to compete effectively.”
Doctors Turn To Art To Hone Their Skills
“A number of medical schools have adopted courses to train doctors in observational skills by studying great paintings. Physicians say the practice can help them become more observant, inform them about how society viewed medical conditions in the past, and connect them with the craft of medicine at a time when their profession is increasingly shaped by technological advances.”
Are We In The Next Phase In E-Books?
“What is now being proven is that market is not infinitely elastic. Most of the data we see suggest that ebook sales growth has stopped. Ever-growing supply and stable demand is a toxic formula for the prospects of each successive ebook published for that market. My own hunch is that Kindle Unlimited is simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
The Minnesota Orchestra’s Tumultuous Year: A Look Back
“In recent days at Orchestra Hall, I’ve repeatedly heard the word ‘optimistic’. The Orchestra is playing well, and musicians are clearly happy to be working with music director Osmo Vänskä again. … After two years of being held up as the example of the way not to do things, there is apparently great interest in the Minnesota Orchestra elsewhere.”
Discord Over Paris’s New Concert Hall
Despite the decades of complaints about the French capital lacking a decent venue for symphonic music, there’s a lot of hand-wringing about the soon-to-open Philharmonie de Paris – over everything from its location at the edge of the city to budget overruns and missed deadlines to planned programming.
The 100 Most Influential People In British Theatre For 2015
Topping The Stage 100 for the sixth year running are the co-founders and co-CEOs of Ambassador Theatre Group, Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire. In fact, eight of the top ten slots are held by duos rather than individuals.
Actor Edward Herrmann Dead At 71
“The 6-foot-5 actor schooled in London was a natural to play aristocrats and authority figures” – from Nelson Rockefeller and editor Max Eastman on film to FDR and (much more recently) the grandfather in Gilmore Girls. Those roles were but part of wide-ranging career including everything from a Tony-winning performance in a Bernard Shaw play to being a spokesmodel for Dodge cars.