The immediate predicament I discovered when presented with
this assignment was the question of what I was supposed to argue about? I chose the very broad topic of publishingand bookselling before 1700 for my annotated bibliography and was unable to foresee
a persuasive writing assignment, or I might have chosen a different topic that
I could argue about. For example, if I
had print’s effect on the Protestant Reformation, I might argue that it was the
deciding factor in the reformation and what enabled change. Instead I have publishing and bookselling and
a dearth of ideas.
I called my mom in my search for inspiration to see if she
had any ideas and she suggested I argue that the books we study in literature
classes today do not reflect the popular literature of the time period. She emailed me a list of books that were popular, and a list of books that were not so popular, but are the books we talk about today (don't worry, my mother is not doing research just for me and this paper, she's currently working on her dissertation on this time period for her PhD in English, so she already knew it all. One of the popular for the time period titles she sent me, A Quip for an Upstart Courtier, is a work that she and the rest of her graduate program had to translate/transcribe from the English of 1635 into modern English as well as analyse the text).
As I was skimming through the texts listed on my
bibliography trying to find something to write about this quote “Amadis de Gaule is a little known text,
but it was one of the most popular literary words published in the sixteenth
century” in Andrew Pettegree’s The Book
in the Renaissance. This supports my
mother’s suggestion for a topic, but I wonder if that topic relates enough to my
overall topic of Bookselling and Publishing before 1700.
I'm also thinking about arguing that the book trade represents society as a whole.
I going to use the texts I already have to support whatever claim I do decide to make.
Obviously I'm still in the process of brainstorming, so any advice or ideas would be much appreciated.
Bookselling would definitely fit the idea that your Mom has, and I can also think of a couple of books that weren't popular until after the author's death. I also see a lot of potential with your other idea about society's push towards literature. In that respect, I think author's wrote what they wanted to, then the book would sell based on it's popularity. Some books were written to certain audiences, like Machiavelli writing "The Prince" to the Medici family. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteFirst paragraph: totally!
ReplyDeleteIdeas:
-Maybe compare/contrast opposing views on bookselling/publishing?
-Compare and contrast modern and pre-1700 practices? (is that too much outside your topic?)
-How today's practices are a product of pre-1700 practices
-What pre-1700 practices shows about pre-1700 society
I came up with these ideas based on Dr. Burton's Better Thesis Statements link
http://burton.byu.edu/Composition/BetterThesisStatements_files/frame.htm
Good luck!!
I really like the idea of comparing the classic literature we study today to the popular literature of the times each prominent book was published. You could tie this to bookselling through commentary on the fact that the popular books of the times would be fuel for bookselling, not the classic books we study. In this way, we establish that the quality of literature is not determined by how well it sells, but by the uproar it causes. (Example: Huckelberry Finn was once a banned book and yet today is considered classic literature.) You could then tie this to modern examples. HUGE EXAMPLE: Twilight. Twilight is a best seller, yet will probably not endure the test of time as its content is not particularly moving. You could also see if any popular books do coincide with classic literature. In the end you might argue that bookselling is not important when it comes to preserving a piece of literature- it's the thoughts of the people who read the books.
ReplyDeleteJust some ideas! Hope it helps!
Thanks for your input :)
ReplyDeleteI have decided to address the second topic I introduced in this post, because there was more material to support its claims in the books I researched. I have found that the topics of the books, the form of the book, the price of the book, and where booksellers can have a successful business all depend upon the culture if the society and the interests of the people, but not all of theses are explained by the same reasons. The book trade expanded as Europeans started to change their way of thinking about learning and reading, and as printers learned the art of catering to the wants of the people.