Modern Hebrew literature on the Web: a content analysis

Abstract

In this study, a set of freely accessible Web sites were examined, as a first step in understanding the ways the Web is utilised for disseminating, publishing, discussing, studying and selling modern Hebrew literature. The sites were classified according to different facets using the method of content analysis. The results show that amateurs have great interest in publishing their works on the Web, either on their own private sites or on sites that encourage the users to upload their literary works and to interact with other writers and poets. Educational networks and organisations make use of the technology for advancing the teaching of literature. The most popular genre is poetry, closely followed by prose. Almost all sites enable some kind of interaction with the users; larger sites utilise the interactive capabilities of the Web to create virtual communities, to enable uploading of literary texts and to develop discussions about the works published on the site. Publishers, bookstores and a few electronic journals are also present.

Internetica: Poetry in the digital age

“…The first strand of existing research deals with poetry distribution (Bar-Ilan and Groisman, 2003; Bolter, 2001; Glazier 2002). It shows that new possibilities for poetry distribution arise due to the general curiosity about the web as well as the dramatic weakening of the former literary spaces described by Bolter, including poetry readings, university literature departments, and book and newspaper distribution (Bolter, 2001).…”

“…The creative community on the web is an expression of the poets’ desire for a lively discussion with readers about their work. A study from 2003 that sampled a subset of websites found that poetry constitutes 70% of the literary texts on the web (Bar-Ilan and Groisman, 2003). This contributes to the fact that the majority of online literary discourse concerns poetry.…”

“…The third strand of existing research deals with online literary communities and their significance for internet poets (Bar-Ilan and Groisman, 2003; Hamidi and Baljko, 2012; Hockx, 2005). Online literary communities are networks of artists that get together and publish their poems on platforms, including social networks, mailing lists, and forums wherein readers can read, respond, and discuss writing experiences and meanings.…”