Today's question: Is the word, publishing, books, and ideas taught in writing still valued these days?
I read today Robert Service's book "Stalin" and I noticed: when it comes to the early biography of Stalin (~1905), there are quite a few references to his writings that went to the printers, articles to newspapers and several "works worthy of small books" (quoting the Russian Bolsheviks of that time).
And - the most interesting thing - although it is mentioned that Stalin was not a very original thinker, but rather a practitioner - his texts still received a lot of attention from Bolsheviks and other Marxists (and Georgian nationalists).
Stalin did not develop very new ideas in his work, as neither Lenin nor Trotsky did, but - unlike Stalin's - their printed thoughts were appreciated and read. Sometimes even a lot.
So here's the question: Was the career of a writer more valuable back then, before the Great World War, than it is now?
I will try to compare what we have:
It used to be:
- Few texts, few books;
- Demanding conditions for writing (writing only by hand) and printing (printing is expensive and difficult).
- In places (and especially in villages) people couldn't even read and that's completely understandable - there was NOTHING to read.
So books and text were something rare, so ideas were spread only by those who had a particularly strong desire to do so.
Now it is:
- There are so many texts that nowadays we have a plethora of choices and we read more than at any time in human history.
- Writing is extremely easy (computer keyboards), and you often don't even need to print texts: it's enough to press the "post" button on the Facebook panel.
- Everyone and everywhere reads. Even the biggest alcoholics sometimes glance at Delphi's articles or messages on Facebook: how much did someone drink on New Year's Eve or who is different from whom...
...It would seem that there is more text now, so looking at the text through the eyes of the economy, perhaps - and less value?
Hmmm…
But there is another thing: text diffusion.
Now it is much easier to spread the text to readers (Facebook, posts of your blog appearing in Google search, electronic and paper books...) and at the same time - many more readers themselves. Even more than 72% Lithuanian residents alone have Internet access. Not to mention if you write in English.
Thus, at the same time, the text is more easily accessible to those who need it most. It is no longer necessary to read the whole newspaper, looking for information about whether there will be repairs on your street, or flipping through recipe books to make something new - it is enough to find it on google or your favorite "know-it-all" place.
…In general, the texts become more separated, easier to deal with, shorter and, above all, intended only for specific audiences, to solve their specific problems?
It would seem so.
But that still doesn't answer my original question, Is a writing career more valuable these days than it was in the past? Or maybe less valuable? Maybe everything has changed?
…Or maybe the career of a writer and the writing itself are quite different nowadays than in the days of the great literary classics, so there is no comparison?
What are your thoughts?