“Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden: Writers Crossing Digital Borders”.

Niamh Thornton

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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    Abstract

    This article was written for a special issue of the Forum for InterAmerican Research entitled, Transitions and Continuities in Contemporary Chicano/a Culture. Writing in The New York Review of Books in April 2010 the Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, described the delight of Twitter as being “like having fairies at the bottom of your garden.” Taking what is a social networking tool and turning it into a space for dialogue, promotion and fan feedback is one that many others have also used. Twitter is not the only platform used in this way. Taking full advantage of what web 2.0 has to offer, writers are using a variety of online tools including websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, to reach and engage with their readers. Where before writers had to rely on a well-financed and enthusiastic publishing house, now they impel their private selves into the public in short bursts of pithy observations and commentaries. This article considers this transition from producer to vendor that writers have had to adopt, and the differing uses that a selection of Mexican and Chicana writers make of online spaces and social networking tools in order to bridge the gap and dialogue with their fairies.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalForum for Inter-American Research
    Volume5
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Apr 2012

    Keywords

    • Social Networking Sites
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Blogs
    • Websites
    • Chicana literature
    • Mexican literature and Web 2.0.

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