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'''Cell phone''' or '''mobile phone novels''' (Japanese: 携帯小説 ''keitai shousetsu''; Traditional Chinese: 手機小說 [[pinyin]]: ''Shou-Ji Hsiao-Shuo''), are the first [[literary genre]] to emerge from the cellular age via [[text messaging]]. Phone novels started out primarily read and authored by young [[Japanese people|Japanese]] women, on the subject of romantic fiction such as relationships, lovers, rape, love triangles, and pregnancy. However, mobile phone novels are trickling their way to a worldwide popularity on all subjects. Japanese [[ethos]] of the Internet regarding mobile phone novels are dominated by false names and forged identities. Therefore, identities of the Japanese authors of mobile phone novels are rarely disclosed. "Net transvestites" are of the most extreme play actors of the sort. Differing from regular novels, mobile phone novels may be structured according to the authors preference. If a couple is fighting in the story, the author may choose to have the lines closely spaced and crowded. On the contrary, if the author writes a calm or soothing poem the line spacing may be further apart than normal. Overall, the line spacing of phone novels contains enough blank space for an easy read. Each chapter sent out by text message on [[mobile phone]]s contains about 70-100 words due to the word limitation of each short message (either in Japanese or Chinese <ref name="Asahi News">http://book.asahi.com/clip/TKY200702100253.html</ref>). Most of the sentences are short, and in the form of dialogues. They are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as [[Java (programming language)|Java]]-based applications on a mobile phone. Cell phone novels often appear in three different formats: WMLD, JAVA and [[TXT]]. Maho i-Land is the largest cell phone novel site that carries more than a million titles, mainly novice writers, all which are available for free. Maho iLand provides templates for blogs and homepages. It is visited 3.5 billion times each month. In 2007 98 cell phone novels were published into books. "Love Sky" is a popular phone novel with approximately 12 million views on-line, written by "Mika", that was not only published but turned into a movie. <ref name="newyorker.com">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/22/081222fa_fact_goodyear</ref>
'''Cell phone''' or '''mobile phone novels''' (Japanese: 携帯小説 ''keitai shousetsu''; Traditional Chinese: 手機小說 [[pinyin]]: ''shŏujī xiǎoshuō''), are the first [[literary genre]] to emerge from the cellular age via [[text messaging]]. Phone novels started out primarily read and authored by young [[Japanese people|Japanese]] women, on the subject of romantic fiction such as relationships, lovers, rape, love triangles, and pregnancy. However, mobile phone novels are trickling their way to a worldwide popularity on all subjects. Japanese [[ethos]] of the Internet regarding mobile phone novels are dominated by false names and forged identities. Therefore, identities of the Japanese authors of mobile phone novels are rarely disclosed. "Net transvestites" are of the most extreme play actors of the sort. Differing from regular novels, mobile phone novels may be structured according to the authors preference. If a couple is fighting in the story, the author may choose to have the lines closely spaced and crowded. On the contrary, if the author writes a calm or soothing poem the line spacing may be further apart than normal. Overall, the line spacing of phone novels contains enough blank space for an easy read. Each chapter sent out by text message on [[mobile phone]]s contains about 70-100 words due to the word limitation of each short message (either in Japanese or Chinese <ref name="Asahi News">http://book.asahi.com/clip/TKY200702100253.html</ref>). Most of the sentences are short, and in the form of dialogues. They are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as [[Java (programming language)|Java]]-based applications on a mobile phone. Cell phone novels often appear in three different formats: WMLD, JAVA and [[TXT]]. Maho i-Land is the largest cell phone novel site that carries more than a million titles, mainly novice writers, all which are available for free. Maho iLand provides templates for blogs and homepages. It is visited 3.5 billion times each month. In 2007 98 cell phone novels were published into books. "Love Sky" is a popular phone novel with approximately 12 million views on-line, written by "Mika", that was not only published but turned into a movie. <ref name="newyorker.com">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/22/081222fa_fact_goodyear</ref>
www.textnovel.com is another popular mobile phone novel site, however, in English.
www.textnovel.com is another popular mobile phone novel site, however, in English.


Revision as of 20:41, 10 June 2010

Cell phone or mobile phone novels (Japanese: 携帯小説 keitai shousetsu; Traditional Chinese: 手機小說 pinyin: shŏujī xiǎoshuō), are the first literary genre to emerge from the cellular age via text messaging. Phone novels started out primarily read and authored by young Japanese women, on the subject of romantic fiction such as relationships, lovers, rape, love triangles, and pregnancy. However, mobile phone novels are trickling their way to a worldwide popularity on all subjects. Japanese ethos of the Internet regarding mobile phone novels are dominated by false names and forged identities. Therefore, identities of the Japanese authors of mobile phone novels are rarely disclosed. "Net transvestites" are of the most extreme play actors of the sort. Differing from regular novels, mobile phone novels may be structured according to the authors preference. If a couple is fighting in the story, the author may choose to have the lines closely spaced and crowded. On the contrary, if the author writes a calm or soothing poem the line spacing may be further apart than normal. Overall, the line spacing of phone novels contains enough blank space for an easy read. Each chapter sent out by text message on mobile phones contains about 70-100 words due to the word limitation of each short message (either in Japanese or Chinese [1]). Most of the sentences are short, and in the form of dialogues. They are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as Java-based applications on a mobile phone. Cell phone novels often appear in three different formats: WMLD, JAVA and TXT. Maho i-Land is the largest cell phone novel site that carries more than a million titles, mainly novice writers, all which are available for free. Maho iLand provides templates for blogs and homepages. It is visited 3.5 billion times each month. In 2007 98 cell phone novels were published into books. "Love Sky" is a popular phone novel with approximately 12 million views on-line, written by "Mika", that was not only published but turned into a movie. [2] www.textnovel.com is another popular mobile phone novel site, however, in English.

Five out of the ten best selling novels in Japan in 2007 were originally cell phone novels.[3]

History

The first cell phone novel was “published” in Japan in 2003 by a Tokyo man in his mid-thirties who calls himself "Yoshi". [2] His first cell phone novel was called Deep Love, the story of a teenager engaged in "subsidized dating" (enjo kosai) in Tokyo and contracting AIDS. It became so popular that it was published as an actual book, with 2.6 million copies sold in Japan, then spun off into a television series, a manga, and a movie. The cell phone novel became a hit mainly through word of mouth and gradually started to gain traction in Taiwan, China, and South Korea among young adults. In Japan, several sites offer large prizes to authors (up to $100,000 US) and purchase the publishing rights to the novels.

The movement becomes popular also in Europe and now Africa. In Europe it started about 2007, promoted by single persons like Oliver Bendel and Wolfgang Hohlbein and providers such as cosmoblonde or Blackbetty Mobilmedia. Teenagers in South Africa have been downloading an m-novel - a specially-created story written just for mobile phones [4]. The top cell phone novel in the United States, a novel called Secondhand Memories that can be viewed on Textnovel[5], has been viewed more than 27,000 times.

Reason for popularity

Although Japan was the original birthplace of the cell phone novel, the phenomenon soon moved to other parts of oriental East Asia, and many of the online writers are university students. These writers understand what narratives will attract young readers, incorporating emergent events or trendy elements from teen culture into their stories.

Cell phone novels create a virtual world for teenagers via the mobile phone, or, more precisely, via text messages. As in virtual online computer games, readers can put themselves into first person in the story. Cell phone novels create a personal space for each individual reader. Paul Levinson, in Information on the Move (2004), says "...nowadays, a writer can write just about as easily, anywhere, as a reader can read" and they are "not only personal but portable".

The cell phone novel is changing reading habits; readers no longer need to physically go to a bookshop and purchase a book. They can go online using their cell phone, download a novel, and read it on their personal mobile phone anywhere, any time they wish. Similar to the e-book, its mobility and convenience save time.

Notes

  1. ^ http://book.asahi.com/clip/TKY200702100253.html
  2. ^ a b http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/22/081222fa_fact_goodyear
  3. ^ Onishi, Norimitsu (2008-01-20). "Thumbs Race as Japan's Best Sellers Go Cellular". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Mobile novels switch on S Africa". BBC News. 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  5. ^ http://www.textnovel.com

References


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