Thursday, April 28, 2011

On the Dangers of Narrative... or Lack Thereof

No, unfortunately, this morning I don't have much to say (yet) on the narrative discussion that Tony, George Hunka, Tony, and Isaac have all contributed to thanks to this article in Exeunt Magazine.

I do have a related news story, though:
The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into a book written by internationally renowned author William S. Burroughs. It was translated and published by Sel Publishing House in January.

The court referred to a report written by the Prime Ministry’s Council for Protecting Minors from Explicit Publications that accused the novel, “The Soft Machine,” of “incompliance with moral norms” and “hurting people’s moral feelings.” Sel Publishing issued a press release that included parts of their testimony in the court.

[...]

The council also accused the novel of “lacking unity in its subject matter,” “incompliance with narrative unity,” for “using slang and colloquial terms” and “the application of a fragmented narrative style,” while claiming that Burroughs’s book contained unrealistic interpretations that were neither personal nor objective by giving examples from the lifestyles of historical and mythological figures.

Yes, that's right, lacking "unity" of subject matter and narrative is still, in some parts of the world, criminal.