Varlik
Eurozine
Varlik
2012-02-28
Summary: Varlik 2/2012
Cem Akas, Semih Gümüs, Ryan Britt, Robert Darnton, Özgür Uckan, Bora Ekmekci, Can Öz, Cem Erciyes, Selcuk Orhan
Dossier: Not without books or e-books
Cem Akas
E-book and functions
Akas discusses e-books with respect to its influence on writers, readers, publishers and future writing, and says, "The reader's priority is to access the text. In the past, readers looking for a cheap or free way to access the text subscribed to libraries or reading clubs, waited for mass-produced paperback editions, or photocopied the book. Tomorrow, they will search and find the easiest way to access the digital text."
Semih Gümüs
E-books are here to stay
Gümüs questions the loyalty of publishing to traditional means, saying, "The foremost issue surrounding the e-book is whether publishers see digital publishing as their job or not. Opposing it is akin to rejecting the internet in its early days."
Ryan Britt
The sci-fi future of books
An analysis of how future projections depicted books as solid objects in various works of science fiction.
Robert Darnton
Google and the future of books
Darnton argues that we cannot trust market powers to observe public interest, and that we have to win back what is rightfully ours by standing up for it: "Yes; we have to digitize. But more importantly, we have to democratize. We must enable access to our cultural heritage."
Questionnaire: E-books and e-publishing
Our writers answer the question: At a time when the e-book is a worldwide publishing format and exceeds the sales of printed books in the United States and other countries, what are its implications on the actors of the world of books (readers, writers, publishers, bookstores, distributors, etc.) and the text itself? What do you expect the future to look like?
Özgür Uckan
"Considering that publishing is not limited to printing the book, and that the production of the book involves selection, concept, editing, translation and marketing, publishing in itself will not disappear. The writer is the critical but not the solitary element of the book. Therefore, publishing will survive and thrive in the age of e-books."
Bora Ekmekci
"Publishers in Turkey react strongly against e-books. Since April 2010 when the e-book project started, we have 150,000 e-book readers, while only 2800 e-books were offered. I think this owes to the closed circuit business model of our publishers who fear being unable to keep up with new technologies."
Can Öz
"The e-book spreads in a number of ways that fall outside the scope of publishing, which is my area of expertise. Among these ways are the use of tablet computers and the habit of purchasing on the tablet."
Cem Erciyes
"The change in the publication process and the reduction of publishing costs may lead publishers to be less selective and more open to taking risks, which will affect the contents of files. We have two choices: one is to encounter poorly edited, unreadable texts that are free of all commercial concerns and are fluttering at the extremes of art; texts that violate the millennia-old contract between the writer and the reader to the extent they are freed from the supervision of the editor. The second choice is a brand-new and utterly free literature that is liberated from the same binding contract."
Selcuk Orhan
"Let us leave aside the transformation that will be imposed by e-books on the world of publishing and consider the changes it has in store for writers and readers. The middlemen between books and readers will be reduced and access to books will be free from the restrictions of place and time. Printing and distribution costs will vaporize, books will become cheaper, and perhaps the borrowing or subscription services, currently taking their baby steps, will mean that everybody has entire libraries instead of individual books."
Mehmet Rifat
Ways to read the world and the great turn
Rifat discusses the evolution of reading and interpreting writing from linguistics to semiotics and critical essays, and argues that the era of the "masters of thought" began to draw to a close in or before the early 1980s.
Mustafa Serif Onaran, Konur Ertop, Feridun Andac, Metin Cengiz
Literary Agenda: "Remembering Salah Birsel"
A discussion of poet and essayist Salah Birsel.
Sabit Kemal Bayildiran
Reading 3
An essay on Kayip Destanin Ÿƒzinde Trailing the Lost Legend, which discusses the circumstances under which Nazim Hikmet's "Kuvayi Milliye Destani" "Legend of the National Resistance", frequently quoted by the Kemalists today, was written.
Yusuf Copur
On "Writers in Schools"
Director of education Muammer Yildiz and Yusuf Copur, the creators of the "Writers in schools" project discussed in the Cultural Agenda last issue, respond to the criticism received.