In defense of PDF: authors and readers in times of Pandemic

Abstract

One of the consequences that the Coronavirus pandemic brought to the literary universe was the resurgence of questions about the place of writers, the value of their work and their participation in the economic maneuvers of large publishing companies. These questions, as well as their multiple possible answers, arose as a result of a debate around the online distribution of .pdf copies of the works of Argentine writers. These authors, finding their literary production available on the social network Facebook, did not take long to make their opinions known, ranging from direct accusations of theft to the relativization of the value of literary work. This paper seeks to focus on some of the main positions on this dispute. Starting from the place of the book in the contemporary literary market, we will proceed to analyze the relationship between authors and publishing conglomerates in times of uncertainty, as well as the role of the readers, no longer as passive receivers of literary work, but as active agents of distribution and analysis of texts.

Keywords

• autores
• editoriales
• campo literario
• archivos digitales
• pdf