Even though teachers, students, readers, and writers alike often scoff at the unpunctuated email, the barely intelligible text message, or fragmented tweets, the fact that the Internet has allowed such a proliferation of unpolished writing may actually be more generative and more productive than previous models or institutions of writing that exist outside of the boundless confines of the virtual world.
In The field of cultural production: essays on art and literature, Pierre Bourdieu considers the “autonomization of intellectual and artistic production.” And writing on the Internet, no matter how rough, may be the logical extension of this process. The more an elitist paradigm for writing prevails, the less likely writers who would not otherwise be writers are to feel as though they have the right to write. The pressure and expectation of polished writing, or of any kind of writing, strong arms voices into silence.
Even now I’m worried about how this piece of writing will be perceived. I’ve thrown in a theorist in order to elevate my writing in order to conform to the precedent that has already been set in this venue (I started writing this on 10/20 and am primarily reacting to the select premier posts). Has that prevented me from saying more, or saying more of substance? Have I really said anything at all? Writing as a performance can be fraught with anxiety, and, in some ways, virtual writing spheres such as twitter allow the stakes to be low and the rewards to be high.
Welcome to Our Community Writing Event!
Our goal is to create collaborative text that represents the NU community’s collective answer to the question, What does it mean to write in the 21st century? We are interested in hearing from anyone connected with the university—students, faculty, administrators, and staff.
Tell us about the role writing plays in your life and in the lives of those around you. Tell us how your writing has changed over time. Tell us about what, when, how, for whom, and why you write. Tell us about how you use new technologies when you write. Tell us about the media you use: email, text messaging, twittering, blogging…Tell us about the devices you use: computers, telephones, Blackberries…Or show us: post a piece of your writing that you think represents something important about your writing or your work as a writer.
Or consider some of the special challenges and opportunities of writing in the 21st century, as described in the recent report from the National Council of Teachers of English (www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Press/Yancey_final.pdf):
There are many more questions we might ask about writing in the 21st century. Please feel free to pose your own questions. Whatever you decide to share, please join the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you!