Category: Life course

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Death and rebirth of author

Over the long run there have always been times when the death of the author had been announced. With the arrival of the printing press and the ease to mass produce prints and books, previous authors’ books could flood the market. Obviously this could put new authors at the risk of finding no audience anymore as printers asked cash upfront before printing. The economic risks were solely on the author’s side. Ebooks became a risk to publishers as authors had an additional alternative way of publishing. Then the advent of the internet changed again the world of books and publishing. Global distribution became an option. Thousands of authors could have died because authors from around the globe became more accessible. None of these threats have materialized. Publishing on a global scale is fine, only European publishers are concerned about a shrinking market. AI facilitates entry in new markets and AI could kill already struggling authors. Instead, AI opens up lots of opportunities for authors as well. Editing and translation services become more accessible to low budget production. The next wave, some claim a tsunami, shall submerge the publishing industry. Quality, selection of innovative content and events associated with the content shall still make the difference. There is neither the death of the author nor of the publishing world due to AI. On a global scale many new voices can be discovered, probably assisted a great deal by AI who would never have dared to become an author and to enter into the world of publishing or self-publishing. (Image: Korea at Frankfurt book fair 2026-10)

Korea at Frankfurt book fair 2026-10

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Out of Czechia

On the occasion of the Czech Pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Hermann, Sander and Suva (2026) accomplished an astonishing project and an anthology. In viewing Czechia, beyond the well-known city of Prague, 12 authors contribute short stories from a temporary resident’s perspective in a provincial town. “Minout Prahu” in Czech, “Jenseits von Prag” in German built and continues to build bridges between cultures of neighbors who often claim to know a lot about the other culture, and yet, a more thorough understanding remains a “Böhmisches Dorf”, a Bohemian village, but better translated as “is all Greek to them”. In a continuation of “Czechia: A country on the Coast” at the 2026 book fair in Frankfurt, we are no longer surprised to read (p.82) that in town Ostrava with a industrial and mining history, the European Championship of “Beach Volleyball (U20)” took place with many spectators. There is a lot to discover in and about Czechia beyond the famous authors like Kafka and Kundera and the journey to seek for the beaches in Czechia.

Jenseits-von-Prag-published-on-occasion-of-Frankfurt-book-fair-2026-Czechia-Pavilion

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Promise of good time

Some literature is packed with the promise to have a good time when reading it. Travel literature or travel guides also work as enablers or facilitators to have a great experience or moments somewhere else. Escapes from daily routine through reading is itself in most cases a good time as well. Many professional conferences which include traveling should keep an eye on the promise to have a good or inspirational, encouraging time. The good time is most frequently associated with meeting interesting people or impressions that last longer than usual. The Frankfurt Book Fair manages to live up to the expectations of visitors to have a good time while working and meeting people who believe that having a good time is still often related to books in all sorts of formats. Reading as a joint endeavor starts in childhood and maybe revived in old age. Sharing of narratives is key. Passing on a book or recommendations through tiktok or youtube have become a popular way to promote how to have a good time. 

Books about photography 2026-10

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Traveling with-in books

Of course we like to travel or move it. Why not Madagascar? Most people would start to prepare such a journey online for a starting point. On the Frankfurt book fair, the publisher MairDumont reported that very quickly after we zoomed in on a destination, we ask ourselves: what info to trust. For publishers and authors the issue a crucial one as to build a reputation as a trustworthy brand is longer term investment. Holding up trust and to communicate about it, are the next on the agenda. Books or ebooks have this image as most of them are edited in a careful way with cross-checks by several persons. The not-social-media complement rather than replace a trusted source. People navigate between these forms. Authors who have insight knowledge and evidence that links and information have been validated are necessary conditions for success. We still travel with advice from books. Probably even more of us “travel in books”, where the reading of a travel guide becomes a fantasy journey. Traveling with or in books has a great ecologically-minded future, too. 

globe travel book imagination

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Commuters dissatisfaction

Commuting to work is only in few cases a choice. The stress associated with commuting is not negligible. Most employees report low satisfaction levels with commuting to jobs and subsequently this has a negative impact on overall satisfaction with one’s job. A study on urban China shows that employees on formal work contracts can often compensate with shorter weekly working time or higher earnings from work, but only partially. The negative impact of commuting on job satisfaction is rather sticky and substantially higher for employees on informally employed workers in urban China, who do not have resident permits in urban areas. With millions of workers commuting daily to work beyond China, the evidence suggests to take commuters’ dissatisfaction more seriously. Public transport infrastructure has to keep pace with more people working in urban areas, but willing to accept long commuting distances. If we add commuting time to working time, the long hours of work over years constitute a considerable health hazard.

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Gaps in Mirror

The legendary figure of “Till Eulenspiegel” (name is a composition of “owl” and “mirror”) is still attracting attention, largely because of his way to reach and sometimes expose ordinary anomalies. We have mirrors all around us, as well as explicit historical details, but we tend to overlook or create voluntarily gaps into mirrored images of the past and their reflections into the present. The novel “The Gaps” (Die Lücken) by Shida Bazyar exemplifies, why dealing with history on a local level is of utmost importance for societies to be aware, deal and transmit fundamental human values. Till Eulenspiegel of the 21st century has a migration background and experience of care work, 2 fields at the cutting edge of humanity. Dealing with the gaps in narratives of locals enters visually into the novel as well. We ar caught t “automatic lly” read ov r the g__s before we realize how huge the gaps in narratives and our mirrors of the past can be. The novel is a great reminder to actively deal with our own gaps. Check the mirrors as well, there might be gaps that blur images of the past.

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Scroll or stop

In 2026-10 the fundamental question is: to scroll or not to scroll? As we have moved into the individualistic society with omnipresence of the not-so-social media we keep scrolling through online content. Our attention habits are subject to so-called cliffhangers which aim to direct our attention on specific topics, surprising images or just steering us to more-of-the-same content. The social media ban for children fights against the addiction to endless scrolling. In most cases, what is good for children is also beneficial for adults. Hence, the “endless scrolling” (which I increased on this blog at several occasions, currently = 30 max entries) is from now on reduced to 10. After those 10 entries, you are invited to read more on one of those entries or use one-click proposed keywords or categories. The search of topics or names is another more specific entry into a social science perspective. Maybe, the invitation to scroll less, but stop more often and read or follow proposed links is a beginning to detox our online habits. 

Tags on www.schoemann.org 2026-10
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Gone Home

There are at least 2 perspectives on going home. For the person away from home, it could be understood in the sense of returning home. For the community still living at a place associated or idealised as home, it is often interpreted as a home coming. In view of the powerful global social trend of urbanization, many people associate with “going home” as if migrated persons from rural areas would return home to the countryside, maybe just for a short visit. However, a home is to be interpreted much larger than just being a place, a location or a regional idiosyncratic feature, like the sea, the river, the banks or mountains. You might go home to a familiar sounding dialect or language. For some it is the idea of freedom or liberal values which they have moved to, that became their home. For others it might just be the possibility to practice a rather unique sport, which determines where they would feel at home. Home could just be a “state of mind” rather than a location.

Ostend-SUP-paddle-board-on-beach-2026-9 e persons walking with board after practice

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Rural urban interrelationship

Cities are no isolated microcosms. They rely on being delivered a huge range of products. Cities have been markets, hubs or platforms for exchange with their surroundings, neighboring communities as well as distant ones. Historically, quite many cities have built walls to limit access and strictly regulated access. In the 21st century with low levels of fertility, the demographic pressure to leave the countryside for jobs is less pressing, but many regions face the shrinkage of the countryside’s population. The interrelationship between the urban centers and the rural surroundings has to be studied and addressed due to the far-reaching consequences for both. Transportation into cities needs public infrastructure which can handle the necessary flows and exchanges of people and products. For too many decades we have focused on an either/or cleavage of an apparent dichotomy of urban versus rural. It is about time to correct this bias and take the rural-urban interdependence more systematically into account. 

uri urban rural interrelationship in food and drink

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Stress in the City

Before the stress in the city makes you sick, try new coping strategies. Of course, you cannot avoid the stress of hotspots like busy crossings or noisy construction sites. And these are only the visible stressors not to mention fine dust particles or mixtures of fragrances. Scientists have started to address these issues under the title of neuro-urbanism. This topic is part of a broader agenda on public mental health which addresses the rise in mental disorders globally. Expanding urbanization is considered a major driver of an often overwhelming cognitive load in cities. Growing into it helps, but many move to cities for professional reasons or simply a job being largely unprepared to the practice of daily commuting for years. Several potential stressors tend to cumulate: High Social density, broad diversity in aesthetics as well as social structure, relationships, social participation or public transport as part of mobility make cities interesting or hard to cope with.