Writing Degree Zero

Digital Platforms and the Future of Books

January 20 & 21, Smathers Library, Room 1A

As cultural and intellectual discourse becomes digitized at an ever-accelerating rate, what will become of books? According to several prominent literary theorists, the decline of print culture — “the civilization of the book” — makes us acutely aware of different kinds of writing that fit hand in glove with broadened notions of textuality. Contemporary scholarship across the humanities continues to interrogate the vitality of books in the twenty-first century. For instance, how have books shaped our conventional notions of authorship and commonplace reading practices? Looking ahead, how might the book serve as an interface metaphor for electronic textuality? Keen to digital platforms, the speakers featured in this symposium variously maintain that the book will play substantial roles in the development of reading and writing publics in an era of social media, digital scholarship, and networked communication.

Symposium Schedule

Friday 1/20/12
4:00—5:15 Elizabeth Swanstrom (Florida Atlantic University) “Power Zoom: Reading the Future Through the Lens of the Past”

Respondent: Ben DeVane, UF Digital Worlds Institute
5:30—6:45 David Blakesley (Clemson University) “The Beginning of Books?” – Respondent: Laurie Taylor (UF Digital Humanities Librarian)
7:00—9:00 Reception

Saturday 1/21/12
9:30—10:00 Coffee
10:00—11:15 Roundtable Discussion (Blakesley, Bolter, Harpold, Stein, Swanstrom, Taylor, Ulmer)
11:15—11:30 Break
11:30—12:45 Jay Bolter (Georgia Institute of Technology) “The End of Books?” – Respondent: Gregory Ulmer (UF English)
12:45—1:45 Lunch
2:00—3:15 Bob Stein (Institute for the Future of the Book) Title TBD – Respondent: Terry Harpold (UF English)

This event is being organized by the UF Digital Assembly with generous co-sponsership from the University Libraries, the Graduate Film Studies Group, and ImageText.