Moby Dick as a Lens for Digital Culture

Combining a classic novel like Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and digital culture may seem like an odd idea, but even something written as many years ago as Moby Dick can still provide insight into the digital age. Many of the characters in Moby Dick can act as representations of aspects of the digital world, in particular Ishmael and Ahab.

Ishmael is an example of curation. Throughout the novel he is “collecting” data about pretty much everything he encounters. He goes into great detail about whales (almost creating his own Whale Wikipedia), explains customs for when one ship meets another, describes the ship, explains the background of some of the crew, like Queequeg for example. In many ways, Moby Dick becomes Ishmael’s very own Pinterest board, Diigo account, or Wiki.

Ahab can be seen as a representation of social proof and understanding the web. For him the white whale is Moby Dick, for the internet the white whale is whatever new thing is coming up. This white whale can never really be captured, because as soon as you grasp one thing in digital culture something else new will emerge. It starts to feel like an endless goal to keep current on things and no matter how many harpoons that you throw at digital culture, you will never be able to fully capture it, because then another white whale will just appear.

Digital connections like these can be made througout the text of Moby Dick that enhance both the text and an understanding of the digital world. Finding connections like these and exploring new ideas is what literary studies and digital culture are entirely about, and using these two hand in hand is of great benefit to students.

Find Relevance in What You Are Studying

What do you do in an English Literature class? You read books. Sometimes you just focus on one book, but I have even been in a class where we read ten books in one semester! (I thought that was a little ridiculous, but, oh well.) But each time a new book was started, I felt like I just dove right in, blindly, not knowing what I should actually look for. I had a few professors that would try to guide our (my classmates and I) reading in a way to help with that day’s discussion, but I always felt a little bit lost. I never knew exactly what to look for in my reading, and I felt like it impeded my learning. Not to sound dramatic or anything, it just was a little bit random sometimes.

Then I was introduced to a new way of reading by Dr. Gideon Burton. He showed me and my classmates an Algorithm for Reading a Book in theDigital Age, and we were required to do an assignment in this process. (You can find mine finished product of this algorithm here.)  I’ll be honest; at first I thought it was just busy work. I didn’t want to do it because I had actual reading to do for other classes, and I didn’t have time to jump through all of these hoops. But then after I finished and started reading the novel, I had an epiphany:

I actually had a purpose in reading the book.

That sounds dramatic again, and it was what the point of the assignment was anyway, but it was still fun to figure that out. As I read the novel, I focused on passages that would help with ideas that I was already thinking about, and I could find themes that I wanted to focus on for later projects.

This algorithm is what I propose as a way to study literature in the digital age. It doesn’t have to be exactly as Dr. Burton proposes already, but the idea of ingraining your study in an overarching theme is what can help students to go deeper in their learning. It also ties in with the idea of the tiered content model of writing and publishing, but it applies to learning and studying. When we find the backstory and discussions about a novel, we are getting a teaser, and then studying the topics that have already been explored surrounding the text give us a trailer. Then, finally, we can formally study the text.

Basically, we need to avoid just blindly going for it. We need to find the “why” in what we are studying. We need to be prepared for the end goal. The digital age allows this algorithm to work because of the social aspect of finding discussions that surround the novel, and this is how we can find our place in the conversation. Such is the goal of the English major: make a meaningful contribution to the conversation. Now, in the digital age, this is more than ever easily and meaningfully done.

Understanding Digital Culture: Brought to you By...

Before Ishmael starts his journey in Melville’s Moby Dick, he gives a description of an oil painting that he sees in the small hotel that he is staying at. At first, the painting is completely obscure, and he cannot tell what it is supposed to be, but as he studies it and sees each little part individually, the painting starts to make sense.

If this were a traditional literary analysis of this passage of the novel, I would simply say that this passage is a metaphor for reading the novel. The novel doesn’t really make total sense if we just look at it in one glance, but as we dissect each part of it, we start to see how each chapter, each word works together to create the quest of finding the white whale.

But this isn’t a traditional literary analysis. This is an analysis from digital culture point of view. The metaphor for reading Moby Dick becomes a metaphor for studying digital culture. When we apply the method for studying the novel to studying the digital culture that surrounds us, we see the process of digital culture better. As a whole, digital culture seems like a giant, jumbled, ugly mess that would be nearly impossible to navigate, but if we focus on one part at a time, it becomes manageable, meaningful, and even possibly beautiful.

When we do a broader literary analysis of Moby Dick we see things such as how the chapters work together to create the story as a whole. There are chapters when the plot is pushed forward quickly, especially at the end of the novel when the crew of the Pequod is batting the white whale. On the other hand, there are chapters in which hardly anything happens at all, and Ishmael just dumps all of the information that he has gathered together on us. These chapters may not seem important on their own, but they create greater importance for the plot-filled chapters. If we didn’t have all of the knowledge about whales that Ishmael gives us, we wouldn’t know the significance of how they catch the whales, or what they do with their findings.

Understanding this helps us understand the workings of digital culture. Often, people just want the exciting things—the plot filled chapters. But if we don’t gain all of the informational pieces that we need, these excitements won’t have as much meaning or importance for us.

In short, the method of understanding Moby Dick can be used as a way to understand the digital world. This is an idea I’ve mentioned before in posts like this, or that Sam has mentioned in posts like this. But the basics point to how digital culture and traditional literary study can be linked together. Their hand-in-hand study allows for new ideas to come about in new ways that will continue to develop.

Reflective Post On Digital Culture

I got into this class on the recommendation of Greg Bayles, himself a wizard of digital culture. And I have learned an awful lot about how the digital world works, where it is moving, and where it has been. I was intrigued with the way we connected the subject with Moby Dick, and this post by Melody Hiatt entitled "The Moby Dick Metaphor" is what initially got me excited about the connections that could be made between Moby Dick and Digital Culture. From there, I started to really read Moby Dick with a new perspective, and the result was this post entitled The (never ending) Moby Dick Metaphor. In fact this illustrates something else I have learned in this class about the nature of the digital world: there is a lot of building off of other things and remixing. And also, it can be confusing to get a grasp on new concepts, because there will always be new concepts that need grasping. There is always going to be the need to hunt for more knowledge and ability, we will never be resting or completely in control, but in a wild chase for The White Whale. The Holy Grail. The Thing We Desire. The Thing We Need.

I enjoyed being in Team Queequeg, where I was a first mate. I think being in a team was appropriate because a lot of things in the digital are moving to a more team work/collaborative model. Crowdsourcing is a good example of this, and is talked about in this class post entitled "Collaborative Creativity and Crowdsourcing."

I found it especially interesting when we talked about a musical site called "Kompoz" that Professor Burton had found that allowed for musical collaborating amongst many different people from anywhere in the world to collaborate on tracks. Each person contributing a specific part, and advertising for other specialists (a drummer or guitarist) to come in and help add stuff. This kid of collaborative environment is really neat. The possibilities it opens are fascinating. And it got me thinking about the power of collaboration in new ways (and appreciate the internets power for connecting people)

Another part I really enjoyed in this class was talking about the concept of the long tail, written about in this blog post.  It opened my eyes to the power the internet and recommendation platforms have had in allowing for revolutionary changes in the way main stream markets are no longer in complete control like they used to be. For example, now niche products (such as music, videos, video games) can really make an impact and be able to self-sustain without being a main stream product making millions upon millions of dollars.

Another point that got me excited in this class was when fellow Queequeg teammate Danielle Cronquist did an altruistic post for me giving me a jump start on my final project and a good base to work from. I also enjoyed doing an altruistic post of my own for a classmate on fandom and was surprised to see how I could at the same time link it to my own final project and Moby Dick at the same time.

That might just be my big take away from this class. That everything in digital culture is extremely connected. And that can be a powerful thing.

Digital Culture Reflections

Note the three folders at the bottom. Thinking academically about digital culture has helped me organize and think about my own digital life. In Consume, I keep apps like Music, Podcasts, and Hulu; in Connect, I have Mail and social media; in Create I have Calendar, Voice Record, Notes, and To Do lists.

A couple years ago I presented at a conference for podcasters in Utah called Pod Camp SLC 2011. Now, as I reflect on what I have learned this semester in digital humanities class, I find myself thinking back to that presentation. Maybe the main thing that the digital culture class has taught me, in my final semester of college, after years of podcasting, is that this stuff I have been up to has been more than merely a side project.

I’ll go ahead and share below my presentation that I gave back then. It was called “Being Professional With Your Passion.” I defined what that meant for me, and how I measured success with my podcasting. I explained how I sometimes felt like Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can, making people believe that I was anybody worth listening or talking to, and how I tried to hide the screaming Beatles fan inside me every time I got to interview one of my most respected artists about my favorite subject.

Back then, I felt like I was getting away with something. What my digital culture course has taught me is that I wasn’t: I was directly participating in something real. Digital tools gave me access to The Thing, not just a superficial rehashing of it.

Brittany Purcell, a classmate of mine, has written about how digital tools like Etsy can afford access to real business opportunities. She outlined the Maker movement in her article, “Etsy: The Vehicle to Professional Entrepreneurship,” and defined Makers as “the population of creators that use available resources to create and enhance given products.” 

Reading that, and talking in academic ways about consuming, creating, and connecting, has been for me like going to the doctor and finding out that this strange thing you have growing on you has a Latin name. Even if I don’t know exactly what to do about my passion for Do-It-Yourself digital and creative projects, knowing that it is a recognizable, diagnosable subject, worthy of academic attention, is paradigm-shifting. And confidence-inspiring.

After three years of podcasting, I am closing shop on The Pixar Podcast and starting a new show in January. I will continue to apply the principles of consuming, creating, and connecting that I had found on my own and then became cognizant of in this class, and I couldn’t be more excited to go forward, my vision now clear about what I am doing and why it is worthwhile.

Reflecting on a Semester of Digital Culture

Before this class, I thought that I already had a pretty good grasp on digital culture, but in reality, I had just barely been skimming the surface. I was already familiar with the basics like blogging from writing my own blog and managing one of BYUs blogs, and I thought that I was already pretty internet savvy, but there are so many resources, curation, and research methods that I had never even thought of Like using Twitter to research? That one kind of blew my mind a little big. I really just saw that as a place to say silly and witty things and hope for a few "favorites." But, then with the idea of using it as a tool of research and connecting with those outside of your circle I was able to contact the author of the book that I read for this class and get some information from him (I texted my mom right after he tweeted me cause I thought it was that cool...). 

I also found myself liking Google+ a lot more than I would. I had gotten a profile with them when it first came out really more out of curiosity than anything, and then got bored and deleted it, but now that I have been introduced to the communities on Google+ I think I may still hop on every once in a while after this class is over.

  

So I guess thinking about it, what amazes me most about digital culture is the way that people are connecting through it. I’m glad that I chose for my final topic to research something that is relevant to me (editing in the digital age), because it made me much more aware of what is going on in the editing world, what type of people are in this field, and how I can get more connected. In the beginning of the class, I was mostly feeling a little hopeless about what digital culture is doing to our society as I expressed in my blog post “Connecting or Disconnecting?” But, as I started to see the positives, the negatives seemed pretty outweighed. The opportunities for growth, creativity, and connection that the digital age has created are amazing. I especially started to feel more positive about the way things are headed with the class lecture/blog post "Collaborative Creative and Crowdsourcing."

I learned a lot from this class that is going to be very applicable to my future career, which is hopefully doing web based publishing and editing, but other than that I think I just have a better understanding of what is happening online and how I can be a part of it.

The Heart of the Provo Music Scene (and where is it going?)

The music world in Provo is centralized around one place. That place is Velour.

And the velour (and subsequently the Provo music scene) is centered around one guy. Corey Fox.

This article in the Deseret News says (in an interview with Provo mega-blogger C. Jane Kendrick) that “You can’t talk about the Provo music scene and not talk to Corey Fox, he is an amazing coach for a lot of these bands. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got magic.”

Indeed, Corey Fox seems to be the godfather of music in Provo. With his blessing a band can get a hold in the local scene, and without it ... things might be harder. 

As far as the nature of the music scene, Fox admits that “Provo is a transient town, so you only have these bands for a short amount of time.” Thus he sees himself (and the Velour) as more of a means of developing bands, helping them find direction rather than being the final destination. 

I think this is perhaps the main component that sets Provo apart from other music scenes around the country. Nowhere else do you have a scene that is small enough to have essentially one man control everything. And nowhere else do you have one guy capable of handling a scene this big. So it is an interesting balance. 

People in provo are starting to take notice, as well. Recently, a blog called "provobuzz" featured the top 10 bands in provo here. The post got some good attention and shares from various social networks (Facebook being the biggest). Another post on the same site claims that the local music scene is on the verge of exploding. 

But i'm a bit skeptical that things are headed that way. The blog was talking about mainstream success, and Provo houses mainly indi-bands. Bands that are aiming for niche markets in certain genres rather than mainstream success. 

I decided to interview Perry Burton, the drummer for the Provo band Eli Whitney, to try and understand the nature of the Provo Music scene in Provo and what sets it apart from the rest of the country.  What I knew going into the interview was that Provo was certainly no L.A. or New York in terms of having a ton of big bands. Provo was something different. Burton didn't think so either. In fact, his opinion was different than the blogger who thought Provo was on the verge of exploding. Perry's opinion on that subject was that "Provo is the way it is partially because of our demographic here and partially because of size. I don't think it would be (or will be) the same when it gets to be a million people bigger or what not." Everybody is aware that Provo is growing rapidly, and that certainly means 10 years from now things may be very different. And i'm not sure one can predict what things will look like. 

But, Perry continues, "right now it's just big enough to produce a populated scene with lots of players/groups/shows/etc. but small enough that one group can make waves and rise to local fame which in turn, provo is then big enough to raise their star players high enough that the big boys out in LA and NY notice. So it's a careful balance right now, as I see it."

 A good comparison is looking at the Boise State (college) football team. They make a big impact on the national scene, yet they are a small school with a small pool of resources to draw from. Talking with Perry confirmed this. And he also lauded the way "digital mediums allow for completely decentralized success of an otherwise totally centralized concept ("the scene")." All this goes into that careful balance of the Provo music scene.

Finally, when I asked Perry about Provo being a halfway point, or a stepping stone for bands rather than a final destination... well, he wasn't convinced that was a good idea. "The way I see it, why would I want to live somewhere with 1,000 other up-and-coming bands? When I can live here and be famous and make waves and get attention. Big fish in the small(er) pond, so to speak." I agree with Perry to a certain extent. I think a band would be wise to stay in Provo on the condition that they are also having lot's of success in the digital realms (as opposed to bringing lots of people to there live local shows but not getting much play in the digital). I just don't see Provo bands doing that at the moment.  

For example, look at the band Chvrches (from Scotland). In this article in The Guardian the band gets classified as "quintessential examples of that recent paradigm, mysterious-new-sensation-make-giant-splash-with-debut-track." Meaning, they were born on the internet, getting big thanks to blogs and re-posts. Indeed, the first time there music was ever heard by anybody (live shows included) was when they were featured on the blog Neon Gold. They got a ton of Plays off of that, and just like that they were a widely known band. And all this before even playing a show as a band. For me, this represents the truly digital bands, or at least bands that are using the full potential that the digital world has created. Of course, it takes a bit of luck and a certain kind of music to get big on the internet like that. 

Recently, I was able to talk to Derek Miller, the guitarist in the two-piece band Sleigh Bells. I asked him what it was, exactly, that got them huge, if he could pinpoint something. He told me it was when some of there demo tracks got featured on a blog that was being done for the movie Where The Wild Things Are. They got posted on that blog (somewhat coincidentally) and suddenly they were being passed around the internet. Here is an excerpt from the blogger who did the blogging: 

"In August 2009, I blogged about the duo for a website coordinated by Spike Jonze for his movie Where the Wild Things Are. Spike got excited about the music and played it for his friend M.I.A., who also got excited. Several other things happened after that, and now here they are at the low-ceilinged Studio, about to play for a packed audience that's already generating a smell typically associated with the end of a show: booze, sweat, booze sweat."

So here is another band that got big before they were really even a band with mixed and mastered tracks. 

It is this sort of thing that Provo is lacking. Imagine Dragons and Neon Trees got big primarily because they played very good live shows (Imagine Dragons) or because they were invited on tour with a big band (Neon Trees going with The Killers). Once they started to gain steam, it of course helped that they had some good movies put up by local outfit Occidental Saloon, but that was not what got the wheel moving initially.

The Provo music scene is most likely to continue in this precariously balanced state. A lot of small bands fighting to become the big fish in a small pond. And the occasional band that makes it. As far as an explosion? I think the scene is not set for one, nor does it need one. That isn't Provo's identity. Provo will be that cool niche that not many people know about but has a lot going for it. However, I definitely think the scene will continue to grow, as more people take notice, and more bands get success. More people will take it seriously. More bands will come here hoping to succeed in this small-pond dynamic. It is unique in the nation because of that.