I guess for me, there is a big leap from "X is similar to Y" to "X contributes to Y" or "X is Y".
There are so many ways a couple can influence each other's writing: sentence style, editing style, sense of humour, history, likes, kinks, pecadilloes, etc. This is normal. The Ferrante issue seems wedded to rather old-fashioned sexist assumptions about female authorship (also a problem for female musicians, sports people, scientists...) and the equally questionable idea that appropriating stories from other people's lives somehow lessens you as an author.
There's no gender/authorship issue in Homer AFAIK
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:02 (two years ago) link
Funnily enough there is.
https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/authoress-odyssey-1897
― the pinefox, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:10 (two years ago) link
"and the equally questionable idea that appropriating stories from other people's lives somehow lessens you as an author."
iirc I don't think -- in that lithub piece, anyway -- there was an attempt to lessen Ferrante. You could argue this kind of thing could enrich.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:20 (two years ago) link
"to train a machine-learning algorithm to profile authors"
the desire to know more abt an author isn't silly but the idea that this kind of phrenology-by-robots is any use *is* p silly: it's crappier and more speculative than most forensic and profiling cop science, and we now know that most forensic and profiling cop science is also garbage (up to and including fingerprints)
plus it's done by robots! famously not good at reading novels well imo
― mark s, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:25 (two years ago) link
ha! that is great
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:28 (two years ago) link
xposts
Re: appropriating, I guess it's the assumption that an author has to have lived through something (e.g. been raised in, as opposed to just being born in, Naples) to write about it. And therefore anyone who *has* been raised in Napes (conveniently a dude) must QED have written the book or part of it
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 18 March 2022 13:32 (two years ago) link
― mark s, Friday, 18 March 2022 bookmarkflaglink
Don't think the robot is reading a novel. The lithub piece describes a study where they look at phrases from Ferrante against author a, b, c etc. This analysis took out everyone except Starnone.
There was then a horrible tabloidy investigation years later that pointed to Raja, who is married to Starnone. So in this case it looks like the robot did its job.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 18 March 2022 14:11 (two years ago) link
I could see how some readers would find it galling, as xp Thurman says, if Ferrante turned out to be a male author with no female input, although of course Raja could be giving him all manner of feedback, guidance, notes, without having the final say, putting down phrases in analyzable way----but I'm always more interested in what's on the page or other medium (controversies in music and visual arts too)
― dow, Friday, 18 March 2022 18:24 (two years ago) link
Very excited for this translation of Starnone.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/06/02/boy-remembers-his-fierce-father-rich-family-novel/
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 12:31 (nine months ago) link