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An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

theatlantic.com

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Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#11

Post by onlydeadheroes »

edanm wrote: post #9
satori99 wrote: post #5

"After all, as one of the most famous writers in the world today, you are a legitimate subject for inquiry, whether you welcome it or not." Either I am completely out of touch, or this statement is not true. It's probably the former. One of the mentioned novels titles sounds vaguely familiar, but I have never ever heard of Elena Ferrante. I only read this letter because I wondered why an open letter to someone I'd ne…

I'm pretty well-read, although not really in the "general literary" genre. And I also only heard about her a few months ago. That said, the person who introduced her to me made it quite clear that Elena Ferrante is extremely well known, and was shocked that I hadn't heard of her. And I've seen then somewhat confirmed this - she is indeed pretty famous (e.g. this article). So I understand the boat you're in... let's j…

Sounds like marketing to me, nothing more.

from the article: "global superstar"

I guess the bar has been lowered past the floor now.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#12

Post by avvt4avaw »

satori99 wrote: post #5

"After all, as one of the most famous writers in the world today, you are a legitimate subject for inquiry, whether you welcome it or not." Either I am completely out of touch, or this statement is not true. It's probably the former. One of the mentioned novels titles sounds vaguely familiar, but I have never ever heard of Elena Ferrante. I only read this letter because I wondered why an open letter to someone I'd ne…

She was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 -- not one of the most influential writers, but one of the most influential people.

So it seems fair to say that she is one of the most famous writers in the world. That you haven't heard of her probably says more about you than it does about her.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#14

Post by keiferski »

I don't blame any writer for wanting to be anonymous. In today's world, your race, gender, sexual orientation, age, hair color, clothing style, political affiliation, birthplace, and any other discernible group identity will be used to analyze, market, and categorize your work into the appropriate tribalist-identity.

To quote from Ferrante's Wikipedia page:

Ferrante holds that "books, once they are written, have no need of their authors." She has repeatedly argued that anonymity is a precondition for her work and that keeping her true name out of the spotlight is key to her writing process.

Some people just want to write a book...and have it be read as a book, not a sociopolitical statement. Call it the "craftsman ethos", if you like.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#15

Post by satori99 »

avvt4avaw wrote: post #12
satori99 wrote: post #5

"After all, as one of the most famous writers in the world today, you are a legitimate subject for inquiry, whether you welcome it or not." Either I am completely out of touch, or this statement is not true. It's probably the former. One of the mentioned novels titles sounds vaguely familiar, but I have never ever heard of Elena Ferrante. I only read this letter because I wondered why an open letter to someone I'd ne…

She was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 -- not one of the most influential writers, but one of the most influential people. So it seems fair to say that she is one of the most famous writers in the world. That you haven't heard of her probably says more about you than it does about her.

> That you haven't heard of her probably says more about you than it does about her

Sure. It says I'm out-of-touch -- and doubly so when it comes to whomever Time Magazine thinks is influential.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#16

Post by squarefoot »

keiferski wrote: post #14

I don't blame any writer for wanting to be anonymous. In today's world, your race, gender, sexual orientation, age, hair color, clothing style, political affiliation, birthplace, and any other discernible group identity will be used to analyze, market, and categorize your work into the appropriate tribalist-identity. To quote from Ferrante's Wikipedia page: Ferrante holds that "books, once they are written, have no n…

"... will be used to analyze, market, and categorize your work into the appropriate tribalist-identity."

And destroy you should you write something that others don't like. Privacy is becoming an invaluable good whose loss can't be undone.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#17

Post by avvt4avaw »

vahji wrote: post #13

Ah well. If the absolutely not politised Time magazine has placed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, then the guy you replied to is a dork. No questions asked! ;P

Look at the other people on the list this year. Donald Trump. Cardi B. Hugh Jackman. Satya Nadella. Sean Hannity. Jacinda Ardern. Elon Musk. Oprah Winfrey.

You can argue about the exact selection of people. You can say that Time is 'politicised'. But this is clearly a list of people who are very well known.

It's not embarrassing to admit that you had a blind spot about a particular author, musician or politician. But it is a bit silly to then go on to claim that since you haven't heard about them, they can't be that famous after all.

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#18

Post by PakG1 »

satori99 wrote: post #15
avvt4avaw wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 -- not one of the most influential writers, but one of the most influential people. So it seems fair to say that she is one of the most famous writers in the world. That you haven't heard of her probably says more about you than it does about her.

> That you haven't heard of her probably says more about you than it does about her Sure. It says I'm out-of-touch -- and doubly so when it comes to whomever Time Magazine thinks is influential.

Given where Time Magazine is today, the sad fact may be that Time is no longer influential enough to decide who's influential anymore... :(

Re: An Open Letter to Elena Ferrante, Whoever You Are

#20

Post by sn41 »

Why is there such a complaint? Anonymity is a privilege of the author, isn't it? There are authors who remain anonymous even to this day, one I know is B. Traven, the author of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The precise authorship of individual articles in the Federalist papers is unknown. Also, I believe, if you really want to go that far back, the author of Ecclesiastes is not identified.

And then there are known but reclusive authors. J. D. Salinger, and Cormac McCarthy are modern hermits.

Authors are entitled to their privacy. Why should we pry?

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