Catching Shakespeare

Technology fascinates me, in part because I know relatively little about how it works, and I want to know more. The potential for responsible use of technology as a supplement to literary study is particularly interesting. The challenge, as I see it, is to keep technology in its proper place as a supplement, not a replacement for genuine thought.

That’s one reason I’ve chosen Plagiarism Software Finds a New Shakespeare Play by Gaelle Fauer in Time Magazine for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

Plagiarism-detection software was created with lazy, sneaky college students in mind — not the likes of William Shakespeare. Yet the software may have settled a centuries-old mystery over the authorship of an unattributed play from the late 1500s called The Reign of Edward III…. With a program called Pl@giarism, [Sir Brian Vickers, a literature professor at the University of London] detected 200 strings of three or more words in Edward III that matched phrases in Shakespeare’s other works.

As Vickers reminds readers, computers can’t do the work alone – human knowledge, skill, and judgment are still an integral part of the process. He says what he is hoping to do is “bring about a marriage between human reading and machine reading. If you distrust computers, you won’t advance at all; if you have just computers and know nothing about literature, you’re likely to go wrong as well.”

To me, this is a great example of using technology to advance the work of humans, rather than allowing technology to assume the role of primary agent and in the process rendering humans the subject of a passive sentence.

Thanks, Gaelle , for a thought-provoking article.

Fiction and the Mind

Answering the question why read literature? is a recurring theme on this blog. That’s one reason I’ve chosen “How Fiction Reading Affects Empathy” by Aaron Schutz on the Education Policy Blog for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

We have discovered that fiction at its best isn’t just enjoyable. It measurably enhances our abilities to empathize with other people and connect with something larger than ourselves.

The post points to a set of neurological studies that develop this idea further. The author of the article “Changing Our Minds…By Reading Fiction,” Dr. Keith Oatley, writes this:

But is the idea of fiction being good for you merely wishful thinking? [...] Through a series of studies, we have discovered that fiction at its best isn’t just enjoyable. It measurably enhances our abilities to empathize with other people and connect with something larger than ourselves.

Oatley describes fiction as a simulation of the mind, one which allows us to construct the state of another person’s mind. He says empathy requires a similar simulation.

Oatley and the other psychologists in his research group surveyed what type of books (nonfiction or fiction) participants read and then gave two tests measuring perception and interpretation of social situations. Fiction readers scored higher on both tests. A related study suggested that reading fiction can actually alter an individual’s personality.

Of course, the results of any study can be skewed or contain alternative explanations or relationships between data. However, if reading literature has the potential to improve our ability to understand the people around us, that’s certainly impetus to pick up that novel that has been sitting beside your bed.

What is more, it is impetus to think carefully about the literature we do read. If reading a novel can alter the way I perceive the world–and I tend to agree that it does–my choice of reading material becomes a matter of much greater consequence.

Thanks, Aaron, for a thought-provoking post, and Dr. Oatley, for a thought-provoking article.

Tell Me a Story, Please

“The poet [of Beowulf] was reviving the heroic language, style, and pagan world of ancient Germanic oral poetry, a world that was already remote for his contemporaries and that is stranger to the modern reader, in many respects, than the epic world of Homer and Virgil.”
-Norton Anthology of English Language, 7th ed., Vol.1)

Oral poetry may be strange to modern readers, but if the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is any indication, storytelling may be experiencing a revival of its own. That’s one reason I’ve chosen “Storytellers Star At Edinburgh Fringe” from NPR’s Rob Gifford for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

Once upon a time, Scotland had a vibrant tradition of storytelling. But then wicked visual media and evil high-tech gadgets drove storytelling from the land. Until one day, the brave storytellers fought back, made their own castle and celebrated with a big festival in a town called Edinburgh.

According to Donald Smith, director of the Scottish Storytelling Center, “The tales have always been told in homes and in pubs. But now they’re entering the mainstream, as people search for something a little deeper than Facebook and Twitter.” He calls it a “magic space” that requires individuals to spend time together and embark on journeys in and out of time. ”People hunger for that,” he adds.

Imagination. Community. Delight.

Literature has the ability to provide all of these things. Perhaps it takes a few brave individuals “on the fringe” to remind us what stories – what humans – are capable of offering society.

Thanks, Rob, for a thought-provoking article.

A Civic Crisis in Education

Science and math are the keys to global competitiveness.

Science and math are where the jobs are.

Science and math are…

Now you finish the sentence. I’m sure you’ve heard this line of thought before. As an avowed humanities scholar, I sometimes find it frustrating that my field of choice is ignored beyond its connotations for literacy and national standards of reading among young children. Once they can read, start them in science, where they can be useful.

That’s one (albeit selfish) reason I’ve chosen “Dehumanized: When math and science rule the school” from Judy Rabin, based on an article by Mark Souka, for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

[Mark Slouka] argues the emphasis on mathscience and the devaluing of the humanities by those who control education and write and talk about education in the general media have framed the discussion within the context of economic success and competition.

He asks the question, Why is every Crisis in American Education cast as an economic threat and never a civic one?

Take a look at any publication coming out of the department of education or from political pundits debating national standards, or pre-K education, or community colleges. You’ll see a theme: education recovery = economic recovery. Better schools = better economy.

This theme underscores what is, to me, a bigger problem in our way of thinking about education. From the original article by Souka:

It’s about the victory of whatever can be quantified over everything that can’t. It’s about the quiet retooling of American education into an adjunct of business, an instrument of production. [...] only by studying this world can we hope to shape how it shapes us; that only by attempting to understand what used to be called, in a less embarrassed age, “the human condition” can we hope to make our condition more human, not less.

Foremost in concerns about education are not the familiarity of individuals with the U.S. constitution, understanding of the  judicial system, or intelligent dialogue about foreign policy, scientific ethics, or personal responsibility.

Science and math are important, certainly. But such a single-minded focus comes with the risk of ignoring the civic, as well as economic, value of education.

Don’t forget: what made the United States different (or has set it apart) from its inception was the way its civic society, not its economic system, was established.

Thanks, Judy, for a thought-provoking post.

“The very spring and root of virtue and honesty lie in good education”
- Plutarch

Videogames: Lit Undercover

Who wants to study mythology anymore?

Ancient literature? Who cares?

Well, as it turns out, videogame developers, and whether they know it or not, the masses who buy their games, care deeply. That’s one reason I’ve chosen “The Influence of Literature and Myth in Videogames” by Douglass Perry for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

But how exactly have myth and literature shaped the videogames we play today? Why do they matter? For developers, to improve the games of the future, they must understand the right and wrong of the present, and seek lessons from the past. The videogame medium isn’t an island unto itself. In fact, in a way, it’s a symbiotic creature that thrives on other entertainment successes; it’s also a shiny junkyard of rehashed, reshaped, and re-invented ideas re-forged for a powerful new medium still going through growing pains.

Perry points to the influence of Greek and Norse mythology on both literature and gaming. He mentions Tolkien, Lovecraft, Heinlein, and other writers of science fiction and fantasy, who were in turn influenced by mythology and the stories of the ancients.

“I would go as far to say that all literature and all entertainment are influenced by myth,” said Denis Dyack, head of Silicon Knights, the development team behind the original Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, and the upcoming Xbox 360 game, Too Human. “Whether people think so or not, basically, we are immersed in the mythologies in our culture. In some sense, mythology defines culture. It’s unavoidable. Any typical storyline almost always falls back to some mythology.”

Perry concludes that the eye-catching graphics and special effects are not enough anymore. Instead, he says games with the most “story and content” will go the farthest.

If he is correct, it is encouraging to see this medium reaching back and recognizing the depth of story and content literature can offer. It’s equally encouraging to see this unexpected demonstration that the value of great stories never grows old.

Thanks, Douglass, for a thought-provoking article.

Borrowing Books Since 1946

Between products like the Amazon Kindle, e-books, and the lure of new popular titles at Barnes & Noble or Borders, maybe the library has seen its heyday come and go.

Still, there is a lot to be said for a network of print books (versus electronic) available on loan for free (well, not counting the taxes that support them), accessible to all, complete with community resources and knowledgeable advisors.

That’s one reason I’ve chosen Woman, 91, believed to be the UK’s most prolific library book borrower from the Guardian for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

A 91-year-old woman from Stranraer in south-west Scotland is believed to be Britain’s most prolific library book reader after staff at her local library realised she is on the brink of borrowing her 25,000th book. Louise Brown, who borrowed her first book from Castle Douglas library in 1946, now reads about 12 books every week – chiefly Mills & Boon romances, war stories and historical dramas – and has never had a fine for returning a book late.

A remarkable woman indeed.

How often do you take advantage of your public (or private) library? Since I have less time for reading these days, and tend to check out longer books, I would say I check out 5-10 books a month. I won’t be catching up to Louise any time soon. But there’s always retirement…

What about you?

Twitterpoeted From Iran

For those who fear that new media is the beginning of the end of traditional literature, let’s take a “half-full” perspective for a moment. Although the popularization of authorship may bury the next great American novel under a slough of blogs, the Internet and technology can also transmit literature that might otherwise be lost.

That’s one reason I’ve chosen Poetry From Iran, One Tweet at a Time, by NPR’s Davar Iran Ardalan, for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

Persians are known for their poetry. So it is not surprising that as recent dramatic events have unfolded in Iran, so many Iranians who have been alerting the world have written poetically — even in their tweets.

At twenty-six, Parham Baghestani is an engineering student and Web developer from Isfahan. He’s also a poet. Living through the last few weeks of sometimes violent dissent in Iran, Baghestani has used Twitter to share his verses with the rest of the world. (In translation, from NPR).

If the world sees all these pictures, what are they going to say about Iran? I’ll let you know tomorrow!

A new sorrow has been added to my sorrow. The thought of darkness and this destruction.

My love has gone underground. The taste of night is nothing but awareness.

I am curious if someday the 140-word “Tweet” will become an accepted form of poetry unique to our generation, alongside the haiku and sonnet. What other characteristics might define it?  I think this is the subject for another post…

Thanks, Davar, for a thought-provoking post.

When Literati Write the News

Children’s novels, particularly children’s fantasy novels, are the sorbet I serve up periodically to cleanse my palate when serious literature begins to overwhelm my taste buds. From time to time, everyone needs a breath of fresh air to alleviate a heavy load.

In a letter to William Dean Howells, Mark Twain once wrote, “High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water.”

The purpose of rhetoric can be to inform or to persuade, but it can also be to entertain. Sometimes I think literati forget that particular power of literature. That’s one reason I’ve chosen “The Poetry of Journalism” from the Freakonomics blog for the next ProfoundNet, with references to The Writers’ Haaretz. Here’s a snippet:

Last week, Israel’s oldest newspaper, Haaretz, took a one-off chance, temporarily replacing its workaday reporters with 31 of the country’s leading poets and authors. The writers, as writers do, ran amok. They filed epic front-page news reports on daily life in the first person; ruminated about childhood in an interview with the country’s defense minister; and delivered the weather report as a sonnet.

And yet, the Writers’ Haaretz also brought novelists’ perceptions and empathy to little-watched corners of society like a ward of cancer patients or a children’s drug rehabilitation center. These articles, wrote one review, “made it seem like there’s actually some hope to be reported in a country flooded with doomsday news bulletins.”

In addition to adding levity and novelty to the paper’s contents, the paper’s editor, Dov Alfon, saw the experiment as a way to cast a different perspective on the news.

“I think it is a humility lesson for journalists,” he said. He kept five writers in the newsroom in case of breaking news, but nothing big happened. So the authors’ accounts prevailed, gripping stories were printed and dozens of readers called in with praise.

“Thirty-one writers decided, what are the real events of the day?” he mused. “What is really important in their eyes? They wrote about it, and our priorities as journalists were suddenly shaken by this.”

What a great reminder that medium has a profound impact on the message and its reception. Thanks, Freakonomics, for pointing out a thought-provoking episode.

(See also articles in Forward and Haaretz.)

Shakespeare Goes to Court

This ProfoundNet may not seem, well, profound, but it illustrates perfectly that literary questions are not far removed from public debate. That’s one reason, besides pure humor, I’ve chosen The Court, Led by Stevens, (Mostly) Rules Against Shakespeare by Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal. Here’s a snippet:

Turns out the justices of the Supreme Court debate over more than just the outcome of high-profile legal cases: They argue Shakespeare as well.

Specifically, it seems that a handful of justices have gotten serious over the so-called Shakespeare authorship question—uncovering the true identity of the writer of Hamlet, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus…

You who are literati are probably familiar with the Shakespearean authorship question. Did William Shakespeare actually write the plays attributed to him? (For a brief summary of the debate, see Wikipedia).

According to this report, if the Supreme Court tried Shakespeare v. Edward de Vere, classic book publishers would have a lot of re-titling to do, as would curriculum writers, theatre companies, and programmers of robot teachers. Call in the MiniTrue!

The story doesn’t end there. A little over a week later, Jones wrote another blog post called More on Souter…And Specter and Shakespeare. Here’s a snippet:

When asked his views of the Shakespeare authorship question, Justice David Souter recalled the comment of the late Harvard professor George Lyman Kittredge, who in his day faced claims that Sir Francis Bacon was the true genius behind the Bard. “I’ll agree that Bacon wrote Shakespeare if you’ll tell me who wrote Bacon,” Kittredge liked to say, Justice Souter said.

As far as his own position, Justice Souter was far less decisive than he has been on recent cases involving the Fourth Amendment and punitive damages. “I have no idea who wrote the plays, but I’m glad someone did,” he said.

Well put.

Whether as a mind-sharpening activity, evidence of well-rounded interests, or simply a desire to seek truth in all matters, it’s refreshing to see  members of the United States’ most powerful court taking an interest in literary studies.

Nonetheless, since the outcome of Shakespeare v. Vere will not construct precedent for any pending Supreme Court cases, it’s also encouraging to see at least one justice keeping the debate in its proper perspective.

Thanks, Ashby, for a thought-provoking post. (For the original WSJ article, see Justice Stevens Renders an Opinion on Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays). 

Cream, Sugar, or Paperback?

In the 21st century, when books are thought to be on the decline and instant, abbreviated information sharing is the norm, new technology that makes books more available to the public is always a talking point. Enter the Espresso Book Machine from On Demand Books.

That’s why I’ve chosen “Company’s ‘ATM For Books’ Prints On Demand” from NPR’s Rob Gifford for the next ProfoundNet. Here’s a snippet:

In a move some are calling the most significant step in publishing in the last 500 years, a New York company is trying to make books available on demand, printed out locally, rather than centrally as they always have been. On Demand Books has installed a trial machine in a central London bookstore. It’s called the Espresso machine, but it has nothing to do with coffee beans. This baby’s grinding out books.

For about $15, customers can locate those obscure titles a small bookstore could never afford to stock and at a rate of 100 pages per minute, have the book printed and bound right in the shop. 

According to On Demand Books CEO Dane Neller, the Espresso “will help keep paper books way ahead of electronic books, such as those available on the Amazon Kindle.”  The machine is touted to be perfect for out-of-print books, obscure or low-demand titles, and first time authors struggling to find a publisher.

In the USA, On Demand Books has tested Espresso Book Machines at locations in Ann Arbor, MI; San Francisco; New Orleans; Manchester Center, VT; Provo, UT; Washington, DC; and New York City. 

Will the EBM prove just another fad, or will it live up to the promises of its publishers? “What Gutenberg’s press did for Europe in the 15th century, digitization and the Espresso Book Machine will do for the world tomorrow.”  

I look forward to finding out, and only wish an EBM were available closer to where I live, so I could test it personally.

Thanks, Ron, for a thought-provoking article. For more info, visit On Demand Books at www.ondemandbooks.com.