Essayist and literary critic Sven Birkerts questions the effect of digital technology on minds, literature, and creativity in "Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age." Birkerts will discuss his book on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Westport Library’s McManus Room. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the free and open to the public program.
In 1994, Birkerts published "The Gutenberg Elegies," his celebrated rallying cry to resist the oncoming digital advances, especially those that might affect the way we read literature and experience art. After two decades of rampant cultural change, Birkerts has allowed a degree of everyday digital technology into his life. In "Changing the Subject," he examines the changes that he observes in himself and others. “An unprecedented shift is underway,” he argues, and “this transformation is dramatically accelerated and more psychologically formative than any previous technological innovation.” He finds solace in engagement with the arts, particularly literature, and describes the energy available to us through acts of sustained attention, while worrying that our increasingly mediated existences are not conducive to creativity.
The Westport Library is located at 20 Jesup Rd. in Westport, Conn. For more information, phone (203) 291-4800, or visit westportlibrary.org.