How to Advoid Slicing Our Own Hands on the Double-Edged Sword of Easy Publication
As has been established, publication in Iceland is a tricky business to analyze. While as many as 1 in 10 may claim to be published, this number drops drastically to 1 in 500 when looking into book authors who are published through traditional means (through a publishing house that is a member of the Icelandic Publishing Association ). Iceland's traditions of passing down sagas and storytelling empower many of its citizens to release their voices through their own texts in the form of books, guidebooks, or columns. The print publishing industry in the country struggles with the boom of electronic media; this conflict is marked by a lack of interest in literature and a movement toward more easily consumed but potentially less rewarding pieces.
Does this mean that we cannot admire Iceland's literary scene and do our best to emulate parts of it? Absolutely not, so long as we are realistic about the strengths and challenges that such a culture embodies. Here are a few suggestions to make the best of both worlds:
1) Make reading and canonized pieces in our curriculum accessible and relatable to students. The sagas are powerful in Iceland's psyche because they are passed from generation to generation as a national treasure. Their importance in the culture does not have to be justified because they are relatable to the citizens: they teach of history, they offer life lessons, they show the growth of a nation still trying to find and assert its own political independence. If our educational communities in the United States lack the motivation to read, we must offer these communities a piece around which they should rally, a piece that speaks truth to power. All people desire to be heard. The Icelandic sagas speak to a universal truth of individuality in a country struggling to preserve its language. Likewise, our educational systems need to gather a diverse group of people to find a common thread, to find stories that "do right" by us.
2) We need to read and produce work by diverse voices. Icelandic literature, as we have learned from the directors of the National Queer Association, can embody more representation in its characters. Iceland, though, has a white population of over 90%. The United States has a larger portion of citizens to represent since the white, non-Hispanic population as of 2015 only accounted for 61% of the overall population. This endows the United States with a significant responsibility to read and canonize work by diverse authors concerning diverse issues. People want to read work that reminds them of themselves, texts that make them feel heard and understood. Also, other citizens can benefit from diverse literature by learning of others' lives, struggles and triumphs, and perspectives. Diverse literature promotes empathetic connections. A national set of universally-read and appreciated literature will not easily be passed down through the generations until these empathetic connections are made.
3) The next important skill we need to teach our children is how to question information and determine what information is reliable. As publication definitions and requirements shift into muddy ground and less value is placed on being a "published author", the mere fact that something is published does not make it reliable. As countless outlets for publication emerge, consumers of this knowledge must know how to navigate these sources and how to determine what texts are worthy of notice. Furthermore, our children need to know how to hold unreliable publishing sources accountable for releasing false or unchecked information. Publication has been a rite of passage that involves multiple steps, fact-checking being one of those. When publication becomes an easier endeavor, publishers and authors can become lazier. Readers deserve to know that the information that they consume is well-researched or thoughtfully-crafted and they need to have the gumption to protest when this expectation is not met. This scrupulous approach will, if adopted as a cultural ontology, bring less traffic to unreliable publication sources and will maintain a sense of honor that should exist in the business of publishing new information.
4) Recognize that everyone has a story to share. While we may feel hesitant concerning the new voices and publishing sources emerging, there is a line to draw between protectiveness of an academic system that should produce worthy knowledge and the elitism in unnecessarily blocking new (potentially diverse) authors from emerging. These authors' stories deserve to be shared and can make a more tangible, lasting impact when published through noteworthy sources. Storytelling is the root of writing and the only way to promote the value of storytelling is to actively listen. Many stories have been shared but have gone forgotten or unrecorded because the audience was not listening. Do we really want to miss out on the tales that could become our own sagas? Listen to the experiences of others and construct bridges between these experiences and your own to promote empathy along the way.
Does this mean that we cannot admire Iceland's literary scene and do our best to emulate parts of it? Absolutely not, so long as we are realistic about the strengths and challenges that such a culture embodies. Here are a few suggestions to make the best of both worlds:
1) Make reading and canonized pieces in our curriculum accessible and relatable to students. The sagas are powerful in Iceland's psyche because they are passed from generation to generation as a national treasure. Their importance in the culture does not have to be justified because they are relatable to the citizens: they teach of history, they offer life lessons, they show the growth of a nation still trying to find and assert its own political independence. If our educational communities in the United States lack the motivation to read, we must offer these communities a piece around which they should rally, a piece that speaks truth to power. All people desire to be heard. The Icelandic sagas speak to a universal truth of individuality in a country struggling to preserve its language. Likewise, our educational systems need to gather a diverse group of people to find a common thread, to find stories that "do right" by us.
2) We need to read and produce work by diverse voices. Icelandic literature, as we have learned from the directors of the National Queer Association, can embody more representation in its characters. Iceland, though, has a white population of over 90%. The United States has a larger portion of citizens to represent since the white, non-Hispanic population as of 2015 only accounted for 61% of the overall population. This endows the United States with a significant responsibility to read and canonize work by diverse authors concerning diverse issues. People want to read work that reminds them of themselves, texts that make them feel heard and understood. Also, other citizens can benefit from diverse literature by learning of others' lives, struggles and triumphs, and perspectives. Diverse literature promotes empathetic connections. A national set of universally-read and appreciated literature will not easily be passed down through the generations until these empathetic connections are made.
3) The next important skill we need to teach our children is how to question information and determine what information is reliable. As publication definitions and requirements shift into muddy ground and less value is placed on being a "published author", the mere fact that something is published does not make it reliable. As countless outlets for publication emerge, consumers of this knowledge must know how to navigate these sources and how to determine what texts are worthy of notice. Furthermore, our children need to know how to hold unreliable publishing sources accountable for releasing false or unchecked information. Publication has been a rite of passage that involves multiple steps, fact-checking being one of those. When publication becomes an easier endeavor, publishers and authors can become lazier. Readers deserve to know that the information that they consume is well-researched or thoughtfully-crafted and they need to have the gumption to protest when this expectation is not met. This scrupulous approach will, if adopted as a cultural ontology, bring less traffic to unreliable publication sources and will maintain a sense of honor that should exist in the business of publishing new information.
4) Recognize that everyone has a story to share. While we may feel hesitant concerning the new voices and publishing sources emerging, there is a line to draw between protectiveness of an academic system that should produce worthy knowledge and the elitism in unnecessarily blocking new (potentially diverse) authors from emerging. These authors' stories deserve to be shared and can make a more tangible, lasting impact when published through noteworthy sources. Storytelling is the root of writing and the only way to promote the value of storytelling is to actively listen. Many stories have been shared but have gone forgotten or unrecorded because the audience was not listening. Do we really want to miss out on the tales that could become our own sagas? Listen to the experiences of others and construct bridges between these experiences and your own to promote empathy along the way.