The Fluid Identity of an Author on Social Media: End of

Publisher’s/Editor’s Supremacy?

Md Shazed Ul Hoq Khan AabirWriter and Academic

Department of EnglishUniversity of Asia pacific

Rejection story 1

• “I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.” (response of a publication house)

• Shunned by all major publishers, the author moves to France and makes a deal with Olympia Press

50 millions of copies sold

Rejection Story 2

• “An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.” -

(Response letter sent by the publishers approached earlier)

15 millions of copies sold till now

Rejection Story 3

• Faced 22 initial rejections before he manages a publisher somehow

• 379 copies of the first edition was sold, among them 120 was bought by the author himself

Rejection story 4

• Rejected by all publishers in the UK and US, the author self-publishes his novel in Florence, Italy, using his own press in 1928.

• After being banned for nearly 30 years Grove Publishers published the controversial work in 1959. A Penguin edition followed the next year.

The book quickly sells in millions

Rejection Story 5

• This particular book was rejected by everyone except Heinemann.

becomes the most widely-read book in modern African literature.

• Alfred A. Knopf Publication house successfully turned down authors like:

Jack KerouacGeorge OrwellSylvia PlathAnd Mario Puzo’s The Godfather

Creativity vs.

selling your creative products

The Paper is divided into 3 parts

• Fluid Identity of Authors

•Attitudes of publishers and mass media towards writers and scholars

•Doors that blog opens for aspiring writers and scholars

IDENTITY

Identity

• “Identity defines who somebody is in terms of

in terms of a trait, for example – a physical feature of the body, a belief, a genealogy or a cultural preference. In effect they identify by placing individuals into groups who share that trait.” - Simon During ( 2005, p. 145)

Identity• Varies from the point of views of -

• Skin color• Socio economic status• Gender • Nationality• Region• Profession• Generation etc

• Identity helps you to identify yourself with a particular group sharing the same character traits as yours

“BUT”

• In Cost of your INDIVIDUALITY!!

Identity

• Can be given and chosen

• Given identity : ( Woman, Asian, White)

• Chosen identity: ( a conservative, a writer, a Marxist)

A writer’s identity is a chosen one

Fluid identity

Fluid identity

• A term that’s usually used in discipline of gender studies

• In queer theory - a person who doesn't want to bind his/her identity in male or female stereotypes is called gender fluid. (During, 2005)

Fluid Identity of an Author

• When authors identity, such as gender, race, religion and national identity of an author - (which s/he cannot subside totally) won't hinder expressing his/her ideas.

Can main stream media provide author freedom that s/he seeks for?

The way mass media rewards

Over viewing some recent Nobel laureates in literature

Orhan Pamuk – Nobel Laureate 2006

Orhan Pamuk – Nobel Laureate 2006

• known as a sharp critic of the existing Turkey Government in early 2000, who had a cold relationship with the US government during the Iraq war (Turkey–United States relations, 2017)

• Pamuk’s receiving noble has created debate among the scholars and critics even in Trukey.

Orhan Pamuk – Nobel Laureate 2006

• " In his native Turkey many see orhan pamuk, the 2006 Nobel winner for literature as a moderately talented writer and an opportunist who, with his comments on Turkey's conflict with Armenia, has made a name for himself at the expense of his own people" - Dilek Zaptcioglu (2006)

Patrick Modiano – Nobel Laureate 2014

Patrick Modiano – Nobel Laureate 2014

• Echoes the trauma of Jew genocide in WWII

• Received the Nobel in a year when the Israeli army bombarded mercilessly on the Palestinians during the month of Ramadan.

• Was that an attempt to repair the damage of Israeli image?

Svetlana Alexivich – Nobel Laureate 2015

Svetlana Alexivich – Nobel Laureate 2015

• A stern critic of Soviet Union

• Voices from Chernobyl – almost a journalistic feature.

• “For the past 30 or 40 years she has been busy mapping the soviet and post soviet individuals" - The Swedish academy

Aversion of mainstream media and writers/scholars/thinkers

Chomsky – A Severe Critic of US- Israel Lobby

• “Chomsky is one of a small band fighting a

whole industry. And that makes him not only brilliant, but heroic.”

– Arundhati Roy (The Essential Chomsky)

• "The Oslo peace agreements were founded on a neo colonialist basis, on a life of dependence of one on the other forever".

-Chomsky “United States – Israel – Palestine” (article, 2003)

• criticized severely the Israeli-US media that blamed "The Palestine and their Evil leaders" for the failure of the talks and the subsequent violence.

• back in May 2010, Chomsky was not allowed to enter into the occupied West bank by the decision of Israeli government ran by Benjamin Netanyahu

• He was Supposed to deliver a lecture at a Palestinian University

• Israeli Media Subsequently called him a “National Traitor”

• This news was not highlighted by the US media as well.

Edward Said – propagator of Orientalism and supporter of PLO faced the same media atrocities

Banning books is a common phenomena

Aktharuzzaman Elias

• Akhtaruzzaman Elias is one of the most pioneer writers of post war Bangladesh.

• His write ups challenges readers’ intellect and makes them think. Not too easy to decode.

• In his earlier days one of his publishers tried to act like his well wisher and suggested that – “Koshe Rommo Rochona Poren”

BLOG and Online Writing

Face book notes turning into blogs: September, 2015

Google plus also offers you a blog acount

Doors that the fluid identity of bloggers opens

• The decentralization of power:• Less or no censorship• Minorities can open up easily• Like minded people can flock up • Information transfer is easier

1. The decentralization of power

1. The decentralization of power

• "Each society has its regime of truth, its ‘general politics of truth’ - that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes function as true"

• “These 'general politics' and 'regimes of truth' are the result of scientific discourse and institutions, and are reinforced constantly through the education, the media and the flux of political and economic ideologies“

- ( Foucault, in Rabinow 1991)

1. The decentralization of power

• An author, being a subject of a government or nationality, had to be a part of this power game, or game of "regime of truth" .

• Only in blogs or online persona, a writer can enjoy the freedom to a larger extant.

• The power baton is shifted to the authors hand from the hand of editors or the publishers.

2. Less or no censorship

3. Minorities can open up easily

4. Like minded people can flock up

5. Information transfer is easier

Loop holes of the fluid identity

Loop holes of the fluid identity

• The blog culture here does not have a proper orientation

• Difficult to bring up serious matters

• View/ like based importance

• Blogs may have their personal agendas

A way to solute them

• Use proper tags, hash tags, and appropriate platforms

• Though it may have its agenda, it will give you an equal platform to express your thoughts and ideas, and to defend them.

On our way to conclusion

• We are living in a age of hyper connectivity

• It’s a challenge for the writers, thinkers and scholars that how would the get accustomed to the coming change and enjoy the freedom!

Md Shazed Ul Hoq Khan Abirshkaabir@gmail.com aabir@uap-edu.bd

http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/Aaabir

References • Arnove, A. (editor) (2008) The Essential Chomsky, India, Penguin

• During , S. (2005). Cultural studies: A Critical Introduction . (1st ed.). USA : Routledge

• Elias, A. (2013). Akhtaruzzaman Elias Rochona Shomogro - 3. (3rd ed.). Bangladesh: Maola Brothers

• Gaventa, J. (2003). Powercube . Retrieved 15th January, 2017, from https://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/foucault-power-is-everywhere/

References • Rejections, L. . (2016, 8th June). Best-Sellers Initially

Rejected. [Weblog]. Retrieved 15 January 2017, from http://www.litrejections.com/best-sellers-initially-rejected/

• Turkey–United States relations. (2017). Wikipedia . Retrieved 20 January, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey%E2%80%93United_States_relations

• Zantal- weiner , A. (2016 ). HubSpot . Retrieved 15th January, 2017, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/history-of-blogging#sm.0000a79y3pqtlcrkxwk2fclyq66cn

• Zaptcioglu, D. . (2006). Spiegel Online . Retrieved 15 January, 2017, from http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-lost-son-nobel-prize-winner-pamuk-divides-turkey-a-442419.html