Online literature: no longer outside mainstream
Internet-based literature is not a strange and sublime thing anymore. It is getting to be a popular publishing channel alongside traditional publishing houses.
It is many times more difficult for someone to become a famous online writer than a traditional writer. It not as simple as many people think: that one can become a writer with several clicks.
A workshop on Vietnamese and international online literature, the first of its kind in Vietnam, was held in Hanoi early this week by Bachviet Books and Culture and Art Magazine.
The spread of online literature works has changed conceptions about literature. At first, online literature makes people think that it is easy to write and anybody can become writers.
The media also pays special attention to online literature, through a large number of articles about online literature works, online writers and details related to online literature.
œThe biggest difference of online writing is the connection. Writers from everywhere worldwide can enter a forum each day to write one work. Writers can use hyperlinks to point readers to other addresses where there is information that the author wants to lead readers to, said Nguyen The Hoang Linh, one of the first online writers in Vietnam.
Poet Inrasara expressed his belief in the development of online literature, saying that online and print literature will exist in parallel.
However, critic Cao Viet Dung said readers still prefer reading books to reading on the computer. The most meaningful contribution of the Internet lies in rubbing out geographic borders and offering more options to readers.
Online literature cant replace print literature, but it can help authors introduce works which cant be published for some reason. Online literature also allows some to deliver works anonymously. In this way, online literature is different from print literature, where fame is the target.
There is another difference between online and print literature: online literature works need to be famous before they are printed while fame is one of the goals of publishing a traditional literature work.
Critic Nguyen Tri Hoan doesnt believe in great differences between online and print literature, saying that it is difficult to talk about œonline literature in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, publishing online literature is a hard and non-profit job. Writers benefit from only one thing sharing with readers.
Some online works have been published in Vietnam, including Im Joe, First Time Together, Love Story in New York, Love You More Than Death, and The Man with Limpid Eyes.
Source CAND/Vietnamnet