<nettime> Re: who would like to translate german -> english?

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

You [fokky] wrote:

> A few questions first - I hope you allow other voices and proposals in the
> discussion. Surely your intentions are noble, but let's do some thinking
> first, in order to be sure that eventual efforts will resort as much effect
> as possible...

It is just a proposal, not even that... The idea came up one or two weeks
ago. Of course 'we' have to discuss this (ted does not like the 'we',
sorry for this, ted!). I think jesse has said some interesting things
about why to produce a newspaper, and print it on several locations. It
not just only a fact that many more people read (and like!) to read from
paper. There is also the aspect of 'collaborative text filtering', to edit
and zip/stuff texts and discussions. And then there is the possibility to
arrange translations and new texts, which 'nettime' is still not doing
enough. A paper publication is again putting this on the agenda. And
things get done in this way.
 
> more opinions, texts, talks fixed onto soon-to-be-obsolete paper? New
> promotion of nettime? The further institutionalization of intellectual
> detachment and lameness?

I think you are a bit too pessimistic here. And anyway, I have not seen
much 'promotion' for nettime around anyway. I think way too little...
Specially for the readme! The promotion for the book is still in an early
phase. And what institutionalization have you seen happening lately? Tell
us all about it!

> The hard work is done elsewhere. How influential are we? And how much would
> such a publication really contribute in becoming more influential apart
> from - again - preaching to the converted?

I think that such free newspapers are exactly leaving the narrow scene
of the already converted... But you are right about the still small
anti-war movement, specially in North-West Europe, the hardcore
Anglo-NATO-EU countries are very tame, jailed in their happy consumerism.

> 2. Which audience do you want to reach with it? If I'm well informed, there
> are still dusty huge piles of undistributed and unsold previous nettime
> publications. Shouldn't we learn lessons from the past and adjust our
> strategies?

Tell, please tell where they are, these piles of zkp4s... Not here in
Amsterdam. Not even in Ljubljana... As far as I know these free newspapers
have gone by now, after two years. There is the readme! book, yes, at V_2
(mailto: abueno@v2.nl) but that's just only a few months out.
 
> since it's static and might
> have a tendency to stay dead letter. Unless, perhaps, it would be targeted
> towards a much broader platform of people; and the keyword is distribution.
> The publication should be embedded in a network of people who feel involved
> with it and who can set up structures to make it known and have it spread.

Yes, but that's what we should discuss. We need rich, diverse material,
from different people and places, analyses, reports. And this should be
embedded within a network of active people and groups. So we could locate
and write these groups and ask them if they want to distribute the paper.
I would propose to discuss a possible Dutch version at nettime-nl.

best, geert

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