Improved title for my project?
Hi again,
This afternoon I was fiddling around with revisions of the title of my project. I realized that there's nothing in the current title to indicate that the reviews are online. The title certainly wouldn't cause readers to think about Amazon.com customer reviews--at least I don't think so.
I also wanted to give a sense of the historical context of my project, so I thought of the following title: From The Monthly Review to Amazon.Com Book Reviews: Online Citizen Reviews and the Circulation of Cultural Power.
For those of you who don't know (which is probably just about everyone, since I didn't know it either until I read it), the Monthly Review was the first literary book review journal in Great Britain. It began publishing in 1749. There's a reference to it in the proposal that appears in the preceding post.
posted by Lisa Ede @ 2:59 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
How are you measuring the supposed cultural power of Amazon.Com book reviewers? Are you interviewing them? How about reviewers for just about the only online magazine to make it on its own, Salon?
Hope
Good question, Hope. The short answer is that I can't really measure (in any objective or scientific way) the cultural power of Amazon.com reviewers. I can look at some general indicators, like the number of people who choose to write and read reviews, the "fame" that some reviewers have achieved, etc. But that's it.
I appreciate your reminding me about Salon. I tend to mention Amazon.com reviewers because so many people know that site--and also because Amazon has created so many opportunities for reviewers to create online identities for themselves (through wish lists, guides, etc). But there are lots of venues for online citizen reviews, including Salon and the increasingly large number of literary/book review blogs.
All this reminds me what a Pandora's box I've opened with this topic!
Hopes always ask good questions.
As to fame, the only online critics I have ever heard of are the ones I have read about in writings of yours. Maybe you can lead to a breakout of these semi-celebrities into a mass audience.
Could you provide examples book review blogs?
That is the trouble with intellectual curiosity.
Hope
Yes, Hope does always good questions.
In response to the question about book review blogs, here's a helpful site:
www.complete-review.com
This appears to be a site that provides links to many (but surely not all) book review blog sites.
Thanks for the link.
Hope
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