Monday 20 February 2017

Kenneth Goldsmith, 'Uncreative Writing'






Product details
            Paperback: 192 pages
            Publisher: Columbia University Press (30 Sept. 2011)
            Language: English
            ISBN-10: 0231149913
            ISBN-13: 978-0231149914
            Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 14 x 21 cm
            Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
  See all reviews
 (2 customer reviews)
            Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 233,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
                        #86 in Books > Reference > Writing > Poetry
            #259 in Books > Reference > Language > Communication
                   #1358 in Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism >  
                       Literary Theory & Movements
        








Product Description

  Review

    What Goldsmith argues has significant implications for the world of poetry, poetics, and    
    pedagogy. His book contains brilliant moments of exegesis and archival documentation,
    and its keen attention to, knowledge about, and currency in artistic practice makes it as
    much a user's manual as a scholar's tome.--Adalaide Morris, The University of Iowa

    Brilliant and elegant insight into the exact relation of contemporary literary practices and  
    broader cultural changes, explaining how the technologies of distributed digital media
    exemplified by the World Wide Web have made possible the flourishing of a particular type
    of literature.--Professor Craig Dworkin, author of "The Consequence of Innovation: Twenty-
    First-Century Poetics"

    In these witty, intelligent essays, Goldsmith brings his encyclopedic knowledge of radical
    artistic practice to bear on how the rise of the internet has irrevocably changed, or should
    irrevocably change, our existing conceptions of poetry. Goldsmith's practice as artist and
    critic is deeply interesting. His book is sure to generate lively debate among poets, artists,
    literary historians, and media theorists.--Sianne Ngai, University of California, Los Angeles

    Goldsmith achieves a very difficult feat with this book: he writes lucidly about complex and
    avant-garde ideas. As a result, he opens up a vital debate for anyone who cares about
    literature, between notions of traditional creative writing and the set of practices he labels
    "uncreative writing."--Douglas Cowie"Times Higher Education" (01/01/0001)

    Good.--James Franco, actor

    Multimedia artist and executive manager of words, Goldsmith writes a provocative
    manifesto for writing in the digital era, with a treasure trove of ideas, techniques, and
    examples that allow us to make it new--again!--Marcus Boon, author of "In Praise of
    Copying"

    Brilliant and elegant insight into the exact relation of contemporary literary practices and
    broader cultural changes, explaining how the technologies of distributed digital media
    exemplified by the World Wide Web have made possible the flourishing of a particular type
    of literature.
    --Professor Craig Dworkin, author of The Consequence of Innovation: Twenty-First-Century
    Poetics

A stimulating and provoking read, which lays out Kenneth Goldsmith’s ‘Uncreative Writing’ agenda in accessible terms, whilst suggesting plenty of strategies for dragging writing screaming into the digital era.  Goldsmith rightly asserts that literature has failed to take full account of recent technological convolutions, or to properly build upon the advances made by certain pre-digital, Modernist writers.  As he admits, the logical conclusion of his ideas about appropriation or bald transcription, may be a future in which origination or human authorship dwindle away altogether – to be replaced by the automated transfer of information as an end in itself.  That implies our current age may be a mere interim state - but one in which we might still have lots of fun playing with his conceptual strategies, whilst awaiting our ultimate deletion.  Alternatively, (should things prove to be not quite so one-directional as that implies) It's tempting to speculate whether such diversions might equally represent a more resilient ‘spirit’ - one capable of subverting algorithmic logic in somewhat less predictable ways.
- Hugh Marwood, Artist & Blogger.   

    What Goldsmith argues has significant implications for the world of poetry, poetics, and
    pedagogy. His book contains brilliant moments of exegesis and archival documentation,
    and its keen attention to, knowledge about, and currency in artistic practice makes it as
    much a user's manual as a scholar's tome.
    --Adalaide Morris, The University of Iowa

    In these witty, intelligent essays, Goldsmith brings his encyclopedic knowledge of radical     
    artistic practice to bear on how the rise of the internet has irrevocably changed, or should
    irrevocably change, our existing conceptions of poetry. Goldsmith's practice as artist and
    critic is deeply interesting. His book is sure to generate lively debate among poets, artists,
    literary historians, and media theorists.
    --Sianne Ngai, University of California, Los Angeles

    Multimedia artist and executive manager of words, Goldsmith writes a provocative
    manifesto for writing in the digital era, with a treasure trove of ideas, techniques, and
    examples that allow us to make it new--again!
    --Marcus Boon, author of In Praise of Copying

    Goldsmith achieves a very difficult feat with this book: he writes lucidly about complex and
    avant-garde ideas. As a result, he opens up a vital debate for anyone who cares about
    literature, between notions of traditional creative writing and the set of practices he labels
    "uncreative writing."
    --Douglas Cowie"Times Higher Education" (01/01/0001)

    Good.
    --James Franco, actor


Kenneth Goldsmith



 About the Author

    Kenneth Goldsmith is the author of ten books of poetry and founding editor of the online
    archive UbuWeb (ubu.com). He is the coeditor of Against Expression: An Anthology of
    Conceptual Writing and the editor of I'll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol
    Interviews, which was the basis for an opera, "Trans-Warhol," that premiered in Geneva in
    March of 2007. An hour-long documentary of his work, Sucking on Words, premiered at the
    British Library. He teaches writing at The University of Pennsylvania and is a senior editor
    of PennSound, an online poetry archive.




With thanks to: https://www.amazon.co.uk  https://www.amazon.ca and (as ever), Andrew Smith - for the reading list.




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