So I have been researching the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee for an e-book my class has been collectively writing relating the modern digital age with literary works on platforms such as the Kindle, Goodreads, and Amazon.
While researching there has been quite a few sources and ideas that have struck me and while trying to pin point a clear powerful thesis my mind seems to be running in circles around all this information. THERE IS JUST SO MUCH OUT THERE!However, one of my ideas is focused on how the digital age is changing things for authors. Now authors are able to sit behind a screen and speak with thousands of fans. This has to have an effect on how they write, or even publicize their book. As an example of this, Harper Lee has announced a sequel to her well-known novel; unfortunately she has received some skepticism if this upcoming sequel is truly her work or if she was pressured into publishing it. I read an article written by Lisa Suhay on EBSCHOhost, and she seemed very unsure of who the true author is, but I also wanted a non-scholarly opinion. This lead me to do some research on Goodreads on "Go Set a Watchman." Some reviewers expressed wariness of the timing, but most had a pretty classic reaction:
I literally found these images on some of the comments that people left.
Although I would say 90% of commenters had this reaction there was the few who questioned as to why now? The doubt may also lead many to read to see if the sequel reflects Lee's voice and "uncover the mysteries" of the sequel. How wonderful that we can express our doubts and excitement together on Goodreads!
I also thought of a new outlook on Harper Lee. She disappeared for 55 years leaving her fans with nothing, and I was pleasantly surprised to find fan fiction during my research based on "To Kill a Mockingbird." I have not gone through and read a lot of it, and I am sure that most of it isn’t very scholarly. However, I feel that it is an important topic for the digital age because it is becoming increasingly popular. While I was making a rough table of contents for our e-book I recognized that no one had talked specifically about fan fiction, but Jenna had related Cinderella to self-publishing. Are they too similar or would these chapters coincide well?
So that is just a little preface of where my searches have lead me to. It has been exhausting and exciting at the same time to find so much information that I will have to read and find a well-done thesis based on my findings. Let me know what you think!
I think that your angle is going to be particularly relevant because Harper Lee is coming out with a new book after so much time gone. Do you think that she did it because of the way that people can interact with authors now? Or do you think she just did it because she felt like it or something?
ReplyDeleteAlong with what Shelby was saying, I wonder what the differences make in time with Harper Lee coming out with the new book are like? Obviously there wasn't the available publicity and such back when the first book came out, yet it still became such a well known and studied work. I wonder how well the new book will do now that there is that ease of publicity, will that be a good thing or a bad thing for it?
ReplyDeleteI think this is great! I really think with your idea, mine, and Shelby's we can have a section of the book about authors or something of that nature? Still working on getting the ideas formed in my mind, but I think yours would fit under how the digital age allows us to connect to an author, mine shows how the digital age allows us to take a stab at independence and publish our own works, and Shelby's is more about the effects the digital age has on authors in general...maybe? Haha. I'll be excited to actually sit down and discuss this as a class. I really like the viewpoint you're taking!
ReplyDeleteI like that idea Jenna, I think we should definitely have a section dedicated to authors. I also want to discuss this in class. I'm also curious if Jenna's chapter will include fan-fiction?
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