A Post-Textual, Post-Literate World

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Last evening, Jen and I watched a PBS documentary about the history of superhero comic books in the U.S. Near the end of the third hour, the documentary was discussing the current state of comic books and the growing importance of electronic texts and video games in the industry. Todd McFarlane, an artist and one of the founders of Image Comics, commented that he doesn’t care if comic books move to digital forms. He said something like “comic books are simply text and pictures, which we’ve had since the cave paintings. And we’ll always have that.”

Respectfully, I have to disagree with him on that point. I don’t think we’ll always have a union of text and visual materials because that claim isn’t supported by human history. The cave paintings I think he’s referring to are the ones in Lascaux, France. While he’s right that they represent a longstanding human interest in telling stories, those paintings are visual only. That is, they have no text associated with them and were created before our species had written language.

When I was a doctoral student, my focus was medieval English literature. A good bit of the material I studied was created in a mostly illiterate society. In that society, those who had the ability to read, create, and interpret texts were a select class of people. Textual literacy wasn’t available to the masses, and it wasn’t a skill they actually needed to function on a daily basis.

I’m an avid reader and aspiring author, so I would like to think that Mr. McFarlane is right about the longevity of texts. However, I have to say that I think we’re rapidly approaching a time when textual literacy will no longer be needed by the masses. Indeed, I think we’re on the cusp of this new era.

What are the reasons I say this? I was recently emailing with my niece, and I mentioned I was thinking about writing some letters to her kids. She told me they wouldn’t be able to read a handwritten letter and certainly wouldn’t reply to it. She said their “text” messages aren’t really texts at all. They mostly communicate in emoticons, GIFs, and other visual cues via their phones’ messaging feature.

That got me thinking about how people interact with information in today’s society. As many people know, polls indicate a growing number of Americans don’t read even one book a year. I think most people probably get their information from some form of visual media, like a TV, movie, Internet video clip, etc. Newspaper, magazine, and book publishers have seen a decline in the number of printed texts sold. Some of their business has moved to digital forms, but even digital texts aren’t selling as well now as printed materials did in the mid-20th century.

Since so much of our information consumption is via electronic screens, I think we’re rapidly approaching a time when blocks of text (whether printed or formed electronically) will be passé. That is, I think we’ll soon live in a post-textual, post-literate world. Like the medieval world, our coming society will need a small, specialized class of textual experts. After all, some needs to create, read, and interpret the scripts to our video games, movies, sit-coms, and “reality TV” programs. However, I predict the people in that field will be a small, select group of specialists, and most consumers of those forms will be completely unaware that a text is the foundation of the visuals they see. Most people simply won’t engage with blocks of text in any meaningful way.

I think we’re already starting to see that trend. How many people see a movie because the person who wrote its screenplay wrote the screenplay for another of their favorite movies? We simply don’t think that way about writers of screenplays. And yet, we will see a film because of its stars, director, or producers.

New technologies like Google Glass and other coming products make it possible for people to track their daily movements in a visual way. Hardly anyone bothers to write a daily journal in this era. I think that trend will only grow as new technologies make cutting-edge visual media easier for us to create and consume. Those of us who love text-based items will become a small group who get our products from vintage or antique stores specializing in textual media.

As much as I hate to say it, I think text is already dead. We just haven’t erected its tombstone yet.

Shakin' It Up

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Earlier this week, I received an email from the company where I work as a contract senior editor. It said the article pools I’ve been working on for the past three years are drying up, and they’re terminating the contracts of a number of writers and editors as a result. I’ve been identified as one of their “top producers”, so my contract will be renewed at its present rate. However, the tasks I’ll be performing may change.

At this point, I still don’t know how many hours I’ll be able to get with them or exactly what I’ll be doing. The changes will happen on or around September 1^st. Until now, I’ve been able to work nearly full-time at that contract job, so this news has me a bit on edge. I’d been feeling a little bored with the work, thinking it wasn’t challenging me much anymore. I didn’t expect this, though.

Since I’m not sure what might come out of this, I decided it’s time to get back into the job market. I sent out my resumé on a few jobs yesterday, and I’ll start watching the ads for others. I guess it’s also time to get back to building my freelance business, just in case I’m not able to find full-time employment. I've let that slide a bit recently, since my contract position was nearly full time.

As a middle-aged woman with two liberal arts degrees, I recognize just how tough a road I have ahead of me. I'm hoping I can get by with a little help from friends and family and their connections. I also know that my hard work, perseverance, and sense of humor will be great assets in my job search and in a new job.

An Update

I haven't posted here in a while, and I know that's not the most clever title I could have given this post. To be quite honest about it, I'm at a loss for a topic on this post. But, I'm going to plunge ahead and do some writing, just to see what shakes out.

The holidays treated us fairly well this past year. We didn't travel to see family during the holiday season, but we did meet friends for dinner and a movie on Christmas Eve. That was a lot of fun, and it's becoming a Christmas tradition.

Right after that, Jen caught the flu, which turned into bronchitis. So, our New Year's was quiet and spent at home while she followed the doctor's orders to rest and recuperate. Where the time between then and now went is completely beyond me.

Ten days ago, we lost our cat, Geoffrey. He was about 15 and had a lot of health problems that finally got the best of the veterinarians. We'd been treating his diabetes with insulin, but other conditions like pancreatitis and heart disease made controlling his insulin levels a challenge. It's been tough because our cats are the closest we'll get to having kids. We lost our younger cat in November 2011, and now we're cat-less for a while.

We've lived in our current apartment since moving to NYC, and our lease has a clause saying we can't get more cats if anything happens to the two we had. Once we've given ourselves time to mourn losing our boy, we'll talk with the landlord about changing that clause. If he doesn't agree, we'll need to start apartment hunting. I'm sure some people would think that's a crazy reason to move, but it makes perfect sense to us.

We're in a duplex and he lives downstairs, so he'd know if we got more cats. Plus, he's talking about retiring in a year, and he mentioned he might sell when he does. So, we might need a new place to live anyway, even if he does allow us to get more cats.

On a more pleasant note, our 20th anniversary is rapidly approaching. After the whopping big vet bill we just had, we're not sure what we'll do for our 20th. Whatever we choose, I know it will be a great day. Every day with Jen is a great one, no matter what else is happening.

I'm terrible at imagining the future and what it will bring, so I never do well with that quiz about "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I simply can't envision where I'll live or what I'll do for work five years from now. However, I do know that Jen and I will be together then. That's the one thing I'm certain of.

Looking Back at Untrod Paths

One of my passions is hats. Not just any old cap, though. And, not those frilly, frou-frou ladies hats that make such a spectacle on Kentucky Derby Day.

I mean classic hats, the kind of felt or straw hats that graced heads during the golden days of cinema. My personal favorite is a nice felt fedora or Trilby like Bogart, Bergman, or Bacall would have worn. Of course, I’m also partial to a nice straw Panama like Paul Henreid, Edward G. Robinson, or Gregory Peck sported in their films.

What does that have to do with paths not taken? Sadly, quite a bit. A few years back, I bought a gorgeous Montecristi Panama hat from Brent Black, and it’s still the pride of my hat collection. It has surpassed the two Trilbies I own from Lock & Co of London, but I digress.

Anyway, during the process of selecting and ordering my hat, I chatted a fair bit with Brent Black, hatter extraordinaire. Knowing me, the conversation probably included me making a comment like, “I envy you your job. What a great business!” Mr. Black promptly replied with, “Well, why don’t you consider getting into the business?”

From there, we chatted about hatters in New York that I might apprentice with so I could learn to block hats. We even briefly touched on the possibility that I’d relocate and work with him a bit to really polish my skills. The idea petered out, probably because I lacked confidence in myself at the time. This was shortly after the academic world had gleefully pummeled my work and self-confidence.

Now, wounds licked and (mostly) healed, I wonder if I let a golden opportunity pass me by.