I liked this piece quite a lot, and certainly saw myself in it a bit. One thing that stuck out was how Mr. Barkan at some points claims to be fine with the death of prestige yet the the last lines seem to contradict that by wishing for a "new model of prestige." I can relate to this ambivalence. On the one hand, I can hear myself saying …
I liked this piece quite a lot, and certainly saw myself in it a bit. One thing that stuck out was how Mr. Barkan at some points claims to be fine with the death of prestige yet the the last lines seem to contradict that by wishing for a "new model of prestige." I can relate to this ambivalence. On the one hand, I can hear myself saying "so what if prestige is dead" yet I don't think I can stop yearning for prestige of the sort that was part and parcel of the artistic world in earlier decades. Maybe the best thing that can come of this is that writers will become inspired to write for a lot of reasons that are purer than obtaining prestige (and thus clout/power). One last thing I wonder is whether the post-prestige era in literature is tenable or whether, given that it is seemingly a historical anomaly in literature's longer history, that some kind of prestige must return. I guess that depends on if there is somehow an increase in reading books by the young (esp. males). Hard for me to see that one coming ahead, but that's the thing about life: it always surprises.
I liked this piece quite a lot, and certainly saw myself in it a bit. One thing that stuck out was how Mr. Barkan at some points claims to be fine with the death of prestige yet the the last lines seem to contradict that by wishing for a "new model of prestige." I can relate to this ambivalence. On the one hand, I can hear myself saying "so what if prestige is dead" yet I don't think I can stop yearning for prestige of the sort that was part and parcel of the artistic world in earlier decades. Maybe the best thing that can come of this is that writers will become inspired to write for a lot of reasons that are purer than obtaining prestige (and thus clout/power). One last thing I wonder is whether the post-prestige era in literature is tenable or whether, given that it is seemingly a historical anomaly in literature's longer history, that some kind of prestige must return. I guess that depends on if there is somehow an increase in reading books by the young (esp. males). Hard for me to see that one coming ahead, but that's the thing about life: it always surprises.