; ) The Ultimate End All Alt Lit Essay ( ; or - the Birth of emo / ennui on.lit

The Truth is a Hammer

 Alt Lit

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a Contemporary Literary Movement that xists between Young Writers on Social Media. “Alt Lit” is distinguished from Past Literary Movements as Well as Other Contemporary Literary Movements in that it is the First Literary Movement to arise on and be sustained by the InterNet. Most “Alt Lit” is published onLine. Most of the “Alt Lit Players” are of the Millennial Generation, 18 to 35 Years of Age, the First Generation to grow up onLine. Personal Blogs, Facebook, Tumblr, Lit Magazine Blogs, and Twitter are the Primary PlatForms for the publication of “Alt Lit.” Only a Small subSection of Alt Lit Authors have published Books and All of these, with the Xception of Tao Lin’s up and Coming 3rd Novel, Taipei, have been published by “underGround” or “Small” Literary Presses.  Most Authors who call themSelves “Alt Lit” are at the Personal Blog or Poetry ChapBook Level of Publication. The Vast Majority of these Poetry ChapBooks are PDFs Available for downLoad off Blogs.  The Use of Small Presses / the InterNet as a Primary Publishing PlatForm as Well as the reJection of Poetic Lyricism in Favor of a Toneless, sbuTxtless, Txt Message-Style minimalism is what Accounts for the “Alt” in Most “Alt Lit.” In Truth, there is Very Little “Alternative” about the Majority of the “Alt Lit” Scene. It is Par of the Course for Young and upComing Authors to publish with Small Presses or to Self publish via whatever Medium is Convenient to them. That, Stylistically, Most “Alt Lit” is Homogenous ( minimalist ennui-ridden prose describing daily life in american suburbia ) lends to the misNomer. It's an iRonic, postModern Joke that is Devoid of Humor or Depth, anOther of the Staples of  “Alt Lit.”

“Alt Lit” is, Primarily, a BrandName used by Tao Lin's onLine Fans ( Alt Lit Gossip was perhaps the First to use the Moniker ) to market the Tao Lin / Social Media-inFluenced onLine Literary Scene. Because, to the outSider, Most Alt Lit Voices are inDistinguishable from One anOther ( minimalist ennui-ridden prose describing daily life in american suburbia ), the Movement garners Considerable Disdain from those not within the Scene. In General, being “in the Alt Lit Scene” means writing like EveryOne else in the Alt Lit Scene, which means writing like Tao Lin, who, through Memetic rePlication, created the Scene in his Image, hand-picking Authors for the “Alt Lit” Power House, Muumuu House. Tao Lin himSelf has not been known to use the Term “Alt Lit” to describe his Work - nonetheLess, Tao Lin is, along with the InterNet, One of the Gods of Alt Lit, and, even if Only inDirectly, its Founder.

For Clarity's Sake, I suggest changing the Title of  “post Tao Lin consumer minimalist writing” to “emo lit” or “ennui lit.”   “emo / ennui on.lit” is the Term I am going to use to describe this Genre in so Far as it xists on, is created for, and is cultivated by the interNet ( I keep the Letters Small to reproduce the Aesthetics of the Genre ). Probably the Most Comprehensive Sites of the Genre, Alt Lit Gossip and  i am alt lit, could More Accurately be called Emo Lit Gossip or i am emo lit or Ennui Lit Gossip or i am ennui lit, ’ as “emo” or “ennui” is Far More deScriptive of the Particularities of the Majority of the “Alternative Literary” Scene than “Alternative” is, as we will see.

The Environmental Psychology of emo / ennui on.lit

- or - 

the sub Urbs

Let us call the Way the Environment a Writer grows up in affects their Art Environmental Psychology. Having been granted Access to emo / ennui on.lit - having rooted around in it via FaceBook, Twitter and Blogs - I have concluded that emo / ennui on.lit, and the Writers of emo / ennui on.lit, arise out of American subUrbia circa Generation Y and that these are their Rough DemoGraphics:


  ( Rough ) emo / ennui on.lit Demo Graphics

 

The Aesthetic and Moral Values of American subUrbia circa Generation Y ( Regan, Clinton, Bush, Obama ) permeate emo / ennui on.lit Writing. These Values are best described as “Starbucks Values,” or “Corporate Consumer Values.” These are Values which say, “You want to help the Environment? Buy Green!”

The inFluence Hollywood, teleVision and Pop Music has had on emo / ennui on.lit is Notable. Contemporary Pop Celebrities take the Positions Once occupied, in Literature, by Mythical and Literary Figures Such as the Greek Gods, Biblical Saints, or Famous Literary Characters like Leopold Bloom or Captain Ahab. This is Consistent with a subUrban Youth that grew up consuming tV and Music Media over Literature at a Young Age and, therefore, brings these Sensibilities to Literature. Pervasive Early Xposure to teleVision and Music Media, which were, in the Late Nineties, during the Millennial Adolescence, moved onLine, xplains the multiMedia approach Many on.Litsters take to their Writing ( see Steve Roggenbuck, below ). Alt Litsters - which is to say Young People posting Literature onLine, of which the emo / ennui onlit Scene is the Largest and Most Powerful of the Scenes ( it is, in Fact, the Only Scene, those Alt Litsters who do not fit the emo / ennui Tag, Such as mySelf, being Scattered inDividuals ) - create Videos and interActive Poetry or multiMedia WebSites to correspond with their Poems and Short Stories or to promote their Books. As emo / ennui on.lit Writing is Often Bland, rePetitive, Monotone, Derivative, Superficial and Naive, Some of the Most Creative aSpects of the Alt Lit Scene reside in the Use of Media Technology.

Mention is Frequently made, in emo / ennui on.lit, of Consumer Choices ( Media, Clothes, Food, etc. ). Many Scenes from emo / ennui on.lit Stories and Poems feature Easily Recognizable Consumer Locations Such as Restaurants, Clothing Stores, and Popular WebSites. the visually reductive and nature deprived concrete / plastic corporate homogeny of the suburban wastescape is reproduced in the emo / ennui litsters’ minimalist prose, which is used to convey a rote set of emotions and experiences. I say Rote because, like the subUrbs, emo / ennui lit is “Safe” and “Predictable.” The emo / ennui lit Scene is allmost enTirely Self-Referential, like a Gated Community in which a Few Members smoke Pot or own un Usual Albums or underGround Novels. Like a subUrb, a Gated Community, in emo / ennui lit, the Bland predominates. Prose is Bland, Relationships are Bland, Adventures are Bland, Gossip is Bland, etc - hence / because of the Ennui the Emos are feeling. The conformist consumer minimalist Prose Style of the emo / ennui lit Scene is Endemic of Literature written by an Animal kept in a Zoo. A Nice Cage, and you get Plenty of Attention, but a Cage nonetheless. that the “Alt Lit” Scene is resistant to prose and subject matter beyond consumer suburban naval-gazing is similar to an animal that, having been raised in captivity, is afraid to go outside of its enclosure / does't know Any Other Reality xists.

It is inTeresting to me that despite the Fact that onLine One can learn about AnyThing in the World, onLine Literature, Alt Lit, as it Primarily xists toDay ( as emo / ennui on.lit ) retains the inSularity of its Authors' Physical Realities. I believe it was Meta Knight who theorized, in Conversation with me, that in a World where we are bombarded with inFormation there is a Drive to concentrate on those Most Basic Aspects of Life - Such as Food and Love, Two of emo / ennui on.lit's Most Common preOccupations. This makes Sense to me; it also seems a Shame. En Masse, on.Litsters are not living up to the Vast Thematic and inFormational Potentials of the interNet, and are choosing, rather, to replicate the Narcissism of Social Media and the Banality of subUrban Daily Life.

The Medium is the Message - emo / ennui on.litsters and Technology

What is Most Relevant about the New on.Lit Scene, Colloquially called “Alt Lit,” of which emo / ennui on.lit is the First of what will unDoubtably be Many subGenres, is its Use of Technology to create and spread its Work. The Use of Sites Such as Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube and the Use of Hand-Held Digital Devices have created Forms of Literature that Previously did not xist. The emo /ennui on.litsters are at the Technological Fore Front of Literature. For this they Rightly congratulate themSelves. However, the emo / ennui on.lit Scene has confused its Use of innoVative Distributional Technologies with its Use of innoVative Literary Techniques. Most emo /ennui on.litsters are copying Tao Lin's Literary Stylings. Tao Lin adopted Noah Cicero because the Older Writer shared a nihilistic minimalism, and Noah Cicero Kind of sounds like Blake Butler, his More Snobbishly Noir inCarnation. Marie Calloway and Megan Boyle write like Tao Lin if Tao Lin were a Girl and were chosen by Tao Lin for Promotion within the emo / ennui on.lit Scene for this Reason.






( Rough ) Alt Lit inFluence OMeter 2012

depression and Nihilism

depression features Notably in emo / ennui lit, as do the Drugs prescribed by Doctors to suppress it, which are taken reCreationally. This Drug-Taking is Consistent with Writers being Writers. There is noThing “Alt” about Writers being depressed and taking Drugs for it. What is even Less “Alt” about emo  / ennui lit's is its Use of Prescription Drugs, even if reCreationally. The Nihilism is a Little More inTeresting - and the eSpecially subUrban Source of the depression. Let's just say that curing Nihilism would cut into Pfizer's Bottom Line. Nihilism is what happens when an Animal is raised in a Zoo. Kept from True Xperience, it begins to feel that its Life is Meaningless, but for being shown off, of Course. So we xplain the Phenomenon of Tao Lin, who Seemingly xisits for no Other Reason than to display the Fact that he is Tao Lin, an Entire Literary Persona built around Social Media Solipsism. To cure his / her Nihilism, the emo / ennui litster would have to break out of his / her subUrban Consumer IdEntity Cage. Can the emo / ennui litster do it? Does he / she have the Energy? The Drive? The Will? The Motivation? What with being depressed / on Drugs that quell the inTense Emotions Necessary to accomplish Such a Task?

Steve Roggenbuck

Steve Roggenbuck is an Xception to the Rule of depression and Nihilism in emo / ennui on.lit. Though, like the emo / ennui on.litsters, his Work reproduces the subUrban Pop Culture Aesthetic, and though his Prose Style falls under the Tao Lin inFluence Umbrella, Most of Roggenbuk's outPut is Visual or Performance ( Video Poems, PodCasts, Marcos, etc )

Steve Roggenbuck


which makes the “Alt Lit” Title, in his Case, perhaps, Apt. With his multiMedia Art as Life / Life as multiMedia Art Approach, Roggenbuck is pushing the Envelope of what is considered “Literature,” and, despite his Close Association with the emo / ennui on.lit Authors and Audiences, and his Similar Environmental Psychology, Roggenbuck's outLook is Optimistic and metaPhysically Pagan to their depressed and Nihilist. That Steve Roggenbuck, as a Traveling Poet, has been so inStrumental in spreading the “Alt Lit” Meme also accounts for his Special Mention in this Essay.

emo / ennui on.lit as a Social Scene

emo / ennui on.lit is a Social Scene whose Primary Mode of interAction is Writing xchanged over the interNet. However, being a Part of emo / ennui on.lit  ( again, Most “Alt” Litsters are emo / ennui on.litsters ) requires you write from an emo / ennui Perspective. Honestly, a Lot of what fascinates me about emo / ennui on.lit is its Mediocrity. It incenses / motivates me. How could the First Major Literary Movement of my Generation be so Thoroughly Bland? I wonder. The Answer that satisfies me is that emo / ennui on.lit is the PlayGround of subUrban Kids living in Privileged Consumer Cages and the Few Working Class Kids compelled enough by Literature to join the Scene but not Angry enough to fight Larger Social Systems of oppression. As it Stands, emo / ennui on.lit is More about the interActions between the Writers as Similar People with Similar inTerests than about the Writing itsSelf. The Writing itsSelf is sub Par ( Bland, rePetitive, Monotone, Derivative, Superficial and Naive ). Most emo / ennui on.litsters ( Muumuu House and People who wish Muumuu House would publish them ) are trying to be 2nd Generation Tao Lins, and Tao Lin is a Mediocre Writer. Noah Cicero interests me. His Descriptions of underClass Struggle brush with Genius, but he needs a Better Editor and a More Comprehensive Personal Politiks. He can be Self-Deprecating to the Point of Self-Defeating and too Easily swayed by the Crowd. Sam Pink is a Fairly Decent Prose Writer and Humorist but still Largely inDistinguishable from Other post-Tao Lin minimalists. Megan Boyle, Marie Calloway, Frank Hinton, Gabby Gabby, xTx, Brittany Wallace, Mira Gonzales, Mallory Whitten, etc All have a Kind of Mutued Similarity that can also be traced to Tao Lin. Blake Butler is the Most Lyrical of them All, but too Pedantic and Derivative in the Academic Style, making him overwrite and overthink in a Very Self-Conscious Young Male Kind of Way, etc. Emo / ennui on.lit is Notable More so for its Conformity than its Literary Leaps and Twirls and Flourishes. emo / ennui on.lit is Remarkable for being SomeThing Emos care about, but then again, its Really Only themSelves, their Corresponding Web Presences, their Personal Consumer Habits, and their Relatively Shallow interNet Friendships Most emo / ennui on.litsters are concerned with in Writing or Otherwise. That emo / ennui on.lit provides a Forum in which Young People can xchange their Works of Art is Commendable, but there is Little of Any Literary Value to those not conforming to the Scene below the Surface of the Scene ( emo / ennui on.lit's Media Technological Value, however, is Great, as the emo / ennui on.litsters are, Very Much, Technological TrendSetters who use Literature is a inter-me-Diary in their onLine Social Xchanges  ).

Even if Cliquish, Most emo / ennui on.lit is unPretentious. In General, subUrban Solipsism, Romantic inFatuation, Every Day Activities and the Related Habits of Consumption make up the Content of Essays, Poetry, Stories, and Tweets. Occasionally, there is Some Delving into the Fantastical or MetaPhorical or MetaPhysical, but Often this retains the Same Thematic Triviality as the Accounts of a Day at Starbucks. The Xception to emo / ennui on.lit's antiIntellectualism is Blake Butler’s HTMLGiant, which Services MFA Litsters with a Passing Interest in the Alt Lit Phenomenon. Let us be reminded there is noThing Particularly “Alt” Lit about mentioning Philosophical Thinkers, or talking about Contemporary Politiks, or the Writing Life, and there is Definately no Thing “Alt” Lit about getting an MFA.

the emo / ennui litster Male

Emo / ennui listster Male, from what I have seen, is depressed; Snide; Sarcastic; Passive Aggressive; Self Deprecating yet Self Satisfied; a Hipster; from the subUrbs; Skinny; Snobby ( but pretending to be an Every Man by enjoying “Base” Pleasures ); Cliquish; Well, if Simply, Dressed; a Nihilist; Politically aPathetic ( with Pretenses to Idealism and Long Stretches of Cynicism ); Loyal to Brands; obsessed with the interNet, Sociable if Socially Awkward; Vaguely Sxual to Sxually Frustrated to a Compulsive Fornicator / Masturbator; inCapable of Commitment, Capable Only of Serial Commitment, or a Hard-Line Monogamist; adrift in the Sea of himSelf; suppressing his Feelings though a Flat Writing Style or  inCapable of Emotional Depth besides an Awareness of Vague depression due to Self-repression or antidepressants; Subtly Patriarchal to a Momma's Boy; Emotionally Needy but Emotionally deTached; out of Touch with Emotions besides Sadness and inFatuation; out of Touch with his Body; pushing Energy up into his Head from his Loins causing over-Thinking of Actions and a Tendency to live More on the InterNet / in Writing than irL; and, Finally, Fundamentally at a Loss about what to do with his Life besides write Things on the interNet that make him feel a Little Bit Better about his Bland Consumer subUrban Xistence. 

the emo / ennui litster Lady

It’s Harder for me to be Direct with Ladies than it is for me to be Direct with Men, but here we go : emo / ennui litster Ladies are oppressed. No, Really, they are. The Perennial “Second Sx,” the emo / ennui litster Lady, besides Tao Lin’s Hand-Picked Harem, and Only for being that, fly below the Radar on the non  “Alt Lit” iniTiated. They are “behind the Veil” so to speak. emo / ennui litster ladies are Nice, Sweet, Timid, Cute, Pretty, More Shapely, More Body Conscious, Slightly Less depressed and Nihilistic than the Men but still Pretty depressed and Nihilistic. Their Bodies and Appearances are focused on. The Sluttiest, Most inSecure One gets the Most Attention Nationally. They talk about Feminism and their Men pay them Lip Service. Many to Most avoid me as I am Aggressive, Competitive, Critical, and Hyper Sxual.

An emo / ennui on.lit Poem

i am depressed

for this
i take drugs

that are fun
sometimes

once, i fell in love

maybe more than once
it's hard to say

what i can say is that pizza is my favorite food
and i own a cat

The Future of Alt Lit

What is the Future of Alt Lit? What is the Future of emo / ennui on.lit? That depends. Emo / ennui on.lit will allways be defined by Tao Lin, allways be defined by a particularly millennial nihilism and consumer conformity. “Alt Lit,” however, is SomeThing More Fluid, and Less Real. For Xample, a Classic, “Establishment” Work of Literature ( my Area of Xpertise ) is allways at Least Somewhat “Alternative” by Virtue of its being Xceptionally proFound in the Nietzschean beyond Good and Evil Sense of the Term. The Classic is allways ahead of its Time, and is allways a Mystery. The Name “'Alt' Lit” implies that whatever Literature falls under its Purview stand in opPosition to SomeThing ( Literary, One would assume ). So, what is the Current inCarnation of “'Alt' Lit” in opPosition to? I am tempted to say that “'Alt' Lit” is in opPosition to Traditional Literary Formats ( via the InterNet and its Fostering of multi Media Creativity ), but not Only is Most “'Alt' Lit” a Ripoff of SomeThing Tao Lin / Noah Cicero / Blake Butler / Steve Roggenbuck did, this brings up a Dilemma Similar to that of All Literary Classics being “Alt” in Some Fashion or anOther. Does Tao Lin's being published by Vintage Press ( a subSidiary of Random House ) mean that he and his Style ( emo / ennui on.lit ) is no Longer “Alt” but “MainStream”? One might argue that  “Alt Lit” is in opPosition to Traditional American Values, Such as Capitalism or subUrbanism, like the Beats were, but the Majority of Alt Litsters do not live Alternative Life-Styles, nor do they reject Traditional American Values. They live like subUrban College Students and they think like subUrban College Students. In Order for “Alt Lit” to be deserving of its Name, there will have to be either a Total disinTegration or a Branching off of the emo / ennui on.lit Scene. Young Writers will not Only have to reject Tao Lin as a Primary inFluence and go searching for their Literary Voices elsewhere, but begin adopting Alternative Life Styles as Well ( like Steve Roggenbuck has done or as can be seen in my Promotion of Utopian Anarkism ). As it stands, it is the Life Styles of the emo / ennui on.litsters, as reproduced in their Banal Literature, that is the Least “Alt” Thing about their Movement. Besides using the InterNet and Other New Technologies, the Majority of “Alt” Litsters do not live in Any Way Differently or have Any Different of Cultural Values than the American MainStream of the Past 70 Years. Rather, they are the American Cultural MainStream, Generation Y, writing onLine.

 Andrea

Check my Preliminary Alt Lit Essay - Why Alt Lit is Important

or - my Argument as to how the Widely Copied Prose Style of Tao Lin represents the Commodification of Literature - Throw the Tao Lin