“Post-publishing in the COVID-19 era: the Italian case” – Angelo Zinna

In the sixth session of Transmissions in Motion, Dr. Janneke Adema discussed new and experimental approaches in the world of academic publishing, arguing in favor of a reevaluation of concepts such as “book” and “author” in order to better suit what she defines as the “post-humanities.” Adema explains that thanks to the rise of digital technologies we now have the opportunity to reinvent publishing and distribution practices, creating tools that allow for an ethical circulation of information and for an affirmative disruption of the power structure that exists in the world of research publishing.

By viewing the book firstly as a discursive object, we can understand the importance of its physical form in conveying its message. The book, according to Adema, is born at the intersection between humans, nature (trees), and technology, and therefore any change in one of these elements should result in an improvement of its material form. Adema showed the different ways in which a traditional codex can be abandoned, leaving space for a more fluid approach to publishing where the final product is not a representation of the research, but of the process of researching itself.

While there are evident challenges in applying such ideas to print publications, the approach adopted by Adema appears particularly relevant in the present day, when media and publishing houses are attempting to find solutions to represent the evolving pandemic situation in journalism and literature. Some examples can be found in Italy, where one of the strictest lockdown measures in Europe was applied in the past weeks. Publisher Ponte alle Grazie put on sale a “fluid ebook” titled Virus that collects all of Slavoj Zizek’s writings on the topic of the COVID-19; each updated edition with new articles – there are now eight editions – can be downloaded free of charge. Il Saggiatore published a free ebook of short stories called I Giorni della Finestra (Window Days) written and submitted just days earlier by ordinary Italian citizens. Adelphi, one of the oldest publishing houses in Italy, released the collection Microgrammi, a series of short ebooks containing extracts and sections of larger books that were meant to be published in the coming months; these ebooks are incomplete versions of the final work and allow for insight in the publisher’s production progress.

It is clear that publishers that have found themselves in such an unexpected situation were confronted with all the limitations that traditional publishing entails. The challenge of describing the present moment and adapting to an unpredictable market shift has been undertaken with digital means unavailable just a decade ago. However, it still remains to be seen whether these attempts to reimagine the book will create a more ethical publishing environment or will be
appropriated by the market economy as an object of consumption.

Works Cited

• “I giorni della finestra.” Il Saggiatore, 2020.
• Adema, Janneke. “Post-Publishing and Performative Publications.” Transmissions in Motion Seminar, 21 April 2020, University of Utrecht.
• Zizek, Slavoj. “Virus.” Ponte alle Grazie, 2020.