An interview with Anthony Ballas
The Importance of Books in a Digitalized Modern World
I am quite taken by classical Iranian literature. Ferdowsi’s sprawling epic, Shahnameh, of course, ought to make us in the west reconsider the parameters of the epic poem as a genre.
The International Public Relations Department of Iran Book and Literature House: What follows is an exclusive interview with Anthony Ballas on the occasion of the National Book Week in Iran. Anthony Ballas is a rhetoric instructor at the University of Colorado at Denver. His research explores race, racism, class politics, and internationalism in world literature, architecture, music, and global cinema. He is currently editing two collections: one on cinema and liberation theology, and another on the rise of the far right across the globe.
In the era of digitalization of everything, what do you think of the place of books in today’s society?
At the risk of sounding old fashioned, books are certainly still an important feature of modern society in spite of the digitalization of everyday life. Physical books—paper and ink—are still of utmost importance. But don’t just take my word for it. There is plenty of evidence out there to validate the legacy and continued vitality of Gutenberg’s great invention. We see it with the proliferation of literary small press publishers like the amazing work done by Joshua Rothess with Sublunary Press out of Seattle, and the recently launched Hanuman Editions, established by Rothes and Shruti Belliappa this past autumn. Small presses keep the physicality of print culture alive and put the real, widespread desire for physical media on full display.
This is not to disparage the use of digital ebooks tout court, which are, of course, ubiquitous. Ebooks provide a form of access that has been especially beneficial for the spread of ideas internationally, (and let’s not forget the wide use of digital media to circumvent that capitalist pest known as copyright law!). I’ll also say that, with college students suffering under the twin burdens of student debt and right-wing extremism, both of which threaten education in the United States, digital books help curb the difficulty—indeed, for some, the impossibility—of accessing costly print media and what we’ll call the “textbook industrial complex.” In the economic wasteland of the modern university system, at least in the United States, digitalization is beneficial, but it’s no substitute for physical books.
Can books and reading, as many say, create a better world for mankind and connect different cultures?
Your first question had me sounding old fashioned, while my answer here will risk sounding romantic or utopian! Yes, I think this is the case, though in a qualified sense. Let me explain. I am still very much dedicated to the belief that the transmission of ideas and culture through the written word marks one of humanity's greatest achievements. Although, I have to say, the quality of what we read and choose to transmit must be taken seriously. It really doesn’t do anyone any good if all we have access to are Harry Potter and Marvel superhero movies. The literary and ethical quality of our media is a serious matter, not least when we consider the laurels of book and reading culture.
We face the erosion of this kind of culture in the United States, for instance. In recent years we have seen the disturbing rise of book bans, many of which have been executed at the legal levels in states like Florida and Arkansas. Some of our most precious writers, Toni Morrison, Walt Whitman, Robin DG Kelley, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Edward Said, and others too numerous to mention, have had their works banned from school libraries and classrooms.
A critical reading culture helps fight against the tide of right-wing extremism, which is at the helm of these bans and other violent, racist political strategies. Reading is an empathetic act—especially fiction. Fiction (especially high-quality fiction!) asks us to step outside of ourselves and our congealed dogmatisms and sclerotic convictions. Reading challenges our ethical systems; it puts them to the test. The reason why we see book bans in 2023 in the United States is because we are (once again) bearing witness to the atomic failure of American liberalism.
What do you know about modern and classical Iranian literature and what do you think about it?
I am quite taken by classical Iranian literature. Ferdowsi’s sprawling epic, Shahnameh, of course, ought to make us in the west reconsider the parameters of the epic poem as a genre. It is simply massive, and quite radical. Well beyond the scope of Homer, for instance. So too Vis and Rāmin, Gorgani’s classical tale of love. Although there is some debate, it seems rather undeniable that Vis and Rāmin is a direct precursor of Tristan and Isolde, the chivalric romance from the 12th century. It is perhaps Wagner’s most famous opera, which would not have existed without Gorgani’s 11th century tale! Europeans think they invented everything, including passionate love. Well, Persian classics may present more than a challenge to that notion!
