Bibliocide: een vurig afscheid van de encyclopedie als informatiefenomeen

04 juni 2013

“Boeken verbranden, dat doe je gewoon niet, als je van boeken houdt!” Julian Baggini houdt ook van boeken en deed het toch. Hij verbrandde alle delen van de Encyclopedia Britannica die hij in z’n bezit had. Omdat niemand ze wilde hebben. Om een punt te maken. Om afscheid te nemen. Om stil te staan bij de teloorgang van een informatiefenomeen.

Perhaps there was a time when encyclopædia salesmen were not just selling the dream of greater riches, but one of a richer life of the mind. Back in 1958, the high-minded question posed to potential buyers was: ‘Which is more important to your child … The size of his home or the size of his mind?’ Whether or not this was simply a cynical way of persuading parents to channel more of their money to Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., it was only in the later advertising that the material benefits of education gradually came to the fore. In rhetoric that has become almost universal, books are there to improve grades, which in turn serve the purpose of leading to more success in life. And it is no secret what is meant by ‘success’ here: better-paid jobs, larger houses, more disposable income. Books are not intrinsic parts of the good life, they are ‘tools for success’. Perhaps the Encyclopædia Britannica did once stand for the idealistic dream that, by acquiring knowledge, we might come to uplift ourselves, live better lives than those who came before us. But unless that is underpinned by a humanistic understanding of what a better life is, the dream is a shallow one of more money, higher status and shinier objects.

Bibliocide is de moeite van het lezen waard, of je nu van boeken houdt of niet.

Gerelateerd:
Exit papieren Encyclopedia Britannica: het einde van een tijdperk
Rondrennen met brandende lucifers 
Ook de Brockhaus Encyclopedie is stiekem verliefd op Wikipedia
Moderne boekverbrandingen 

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Krantenknipsel 1943: Krantenbank Zeeland Zeeuwse Bibliotheek