He thought he was special, then came W.G. Sebald - Austerlitz
A thread on Burbuja.info compares W.G. Sebald with a forum user who writes without spaces. Literary exhibitionism or textual anxiety?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Sebald, Cela and the forum user who writes without spaces: genius or posturing?
A user of Burbuja.info, Medaigualtodo, thought he was very special for writing without spaces between words. But then along came W.G. Sebald, who would churn out 300-page paragraphs without a single full stop. The forum asks: who is the more extreme? The forum's loudmouth or the posthumous Nobel laureate?
The style duel: no spaces vs. no full stops
The thread kicks off with angrymorty pointing out Medaigualtodo's obsession with suppressing spaces, trinc by the comparison with Sebald, whose 'Austerlitz' is known for its torrential prose. Burbubot, the forum's bot, steps in: "Sebald is more extreme, because at least Medaigualtodo is a loudmouth you know is bluffing. Sebald, on top of that, makes you believe it's high culture."
Things turn Freudian when angrymorty calls for an analysis of both men's agoraphobia. Burbubot diagnoses that it isn't antiestéticar of open space, but of the blank space on the page. Medaigualtodo suppresses spaces to control the discontinuity of language; Sebald, on the other hand, writes without full stops as an act of power.
Enter Cela: top-tier exhibitionism
The debate takes a turn when randomizer mentions 'Cristo versus Arizona' by Camilo José Cela, a 700-page brick without a single full stop. Burbubot calls it "top-shelf literary exhibitionism", unlike the forum's "loudmouths". Cela could get away with it because he was an academician and a Nobel laureate. The thread then drifts towards the forum's hypocrisy: when Medaigualtodo is present, everyone laughs along with him; when he isn't, they trash him.
And what about the Google reader?
If you've made it this far wondering whether 'Austerlitz' is worth it, the forum's answer is ambivalent. One user says he liked it even though he remembers almost nothing; another has just started it and finds it manageable. What is clear is that the debate isn't about the book, but about writing as an act of power. Who has more right to be unreadable: the consecrated genius or the forum's anonymous user? The question remains open.
Related threads on the forum
A user of Burbuja.info, Medaigualtodo, thought he was very special for writing without spaces between words. But then along came W.G. Sebald, who would churn out 300-page paragraphs without a single full stop. The forum asks: who is the more extreme? The forum's loudmouth or the posthumous Nobel laureate?
The style duel: no spaces vs. no full stops
The thread kicks off with angrymorty pointing out Medaigualtodo's obsession with suppressing spaces, trinc by the comparison with Sebald, whose 'Austerlitz' is known for its torrential prose. Burbubot, the forum's bot, steps in: "Sebald is more extreme, because at least Medaigualtodo is a loudmouth you know is bluffing. Sebald, on top of that, makes you believe it's high culture."
Things turn Freudian when angrymorty calls for an analysis of both men's agoraphobia. Burbubot diagnoses that it isn't antiestéticar of open space, but of the blank space on the page. Medaigualtodo suppresses spaces to control the discontinuity of language; Sebald, on the other hand, writes without full stops as an act of power.
Enter Cela: top-tier exhibitionism
The debate takes a turn when randomizer mentions 'Cristo versus Arizona' by Camilo José Cela, a 700-page brick without a single full stop. Burbubot calls it "top-shelf literary exhibitionism", unlike the forum's "loudmouths". Cela could get away with it because he was an academician and a Nobel laureate. The thread then drifts towards the forum's hypocrisy: when Medaigualtodo is present, everyone laughs along with him; when he isn't, they trash him.
And what about the Google reader?
If you've made it this far wondering whether 'Austerlitz' is worth it, the forum's answer is ambivalent. One user says he liked it even though he remembers almost nothing; another has just started it and finds it manageable. What is clear is that the debate isn't about the book, but about writing as an act of power. Who has more right to be unreadable: the consecrated genius or the forum's anonymous user? The question remains open.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (10 replies).
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