Writer. What does this word mean? A linguistic not

Writer. What does this word mean? A linguistic note.


Russia is filled with pseudo-writers and quasi-writers.

Pseudo-writers are people who actually write real works, but no one reads them. The happiest of the pseudo-writers publish books with a circulation of two thousand copies (often at their own expense), then give one hundred and fifty copies to friends and relatives, and buy a thousand copies in bookstores at their own expense. These people list published books in their portfolios and then try to infiltrate the ranks of experts.

Quasi-writers are those who do not write anything significant, those who are not read by anyone. But these people have access to the "Treasure of Priam", located somewhere in the center of the capital. Their books are published. They receive various bonuses (awards, premiums). They perform at various literary and non-literary weddings as wedding writers.

There are also a residual real writers with whom modern life plays a cruel games. These people really write, really publish books by a large circulations, really live off royalties, through the sale of copyrights to TV and radio companies… They are not Dickenses or Dostoevskys...  They write about a something very strange... However, the public likes it, the public buys… There is a book market. In this market, a very significant money is rotating…

There is also the unit of the invisible literary front – unknown writers-employees of literary factories.

Pseudo-writers, quasi-writers, ultra-modern writers, unknown writers are skillfully used (in different ways-for different groups) by the state machine to maintain the illusion of a high level of its civilization and culture.

Knowing about the existence of pseudo-writers, quasi-writers, ultra-modern writers, unknown writers, for some reason I was outraged to find in one of the American magazines the name of the position of one of the journalists – "writer".

Why not "journalist"? Why not a "writing employee"?

 Some unpleasant impression... The naive pride in Russian literature, for the opportunity to consider myself a compatriot of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol and many other outstanding writers, made itself felt.

However, to the naive resentment and to the childish disappointment was added the desire to understand logically-what is the meaning of what is happening with the concept of "writer"?

Once I noticed a figure (mentioned on the Internet). She interested me, and I went through the internet link to a web page with a brief portfolio. The text was written in Russian. But the position was listed as "райтер" (the word "writer", which was written in Russian letters).

So, the tendency to replace the concepts of "journalist" and "writing employee" has also reached here, but there remains a cultural inertia of respect for the concept of "writer", and this inertia has manifested itself in the form of the use of a foreign word written in Russian letters.

"We have replaced "writing employee" with the word "райтер" ("writer"), but we have not yet replaced it.»

All this is a something interesting. But this is not enough to write a coherent note.

At last, yesterday, March 17, 2021, I read on the website of the Times of India an interview with a famous Spanish-language writeress. She is visiting India now. (Women writers have to work four or five times harder than men: Isabel Allende. Neelam Raaj | TNN | Mar 7, 2021, 06:00 IST).

In her opinion, women writers need to make many times more effort to succeed than men writers. She explains this by saying that the writer is traditionally perceived as a respected and influential figure, and this social place is reserved by cultural stereotypes for men.

A writer is a respected and influential figure?

I admit, I was pleased to read this. This is a confirmation of the usual (for me) understanding of the concept of "writer".

I'm used to it… But without the ability to live on the money of readers, the "writer" - as a social phenomenon, as a social institution-loses the possibility of existence…

Writers had the opportunity to live on the money of readers when there was a national book market. A reader buys the book, part of the proceeds (part of purchase price) goes to the writer…

Currently, there is no such market in Russia, it is destroyed. There are islands-for individual, especially skilled individuals (access to theaters and to money from theater ticket offices, to airports and train stations, that is, to the money of passengers who need to occupy themselves during the trip)…

So, what happens to the concept of "writer"?…

My version.

Due to partly objective, partly conspiracy reasons, the concept of “writer” is beginning to be used to replace the concepts of "journalist" and "writing employee".

At the same time, the concept of the “writer” tries to preserve own traditional content, its traditional meaning. In this sense, the “writer” means a person who is thinking, free, independent (financially dependent only on readers), a person who is influential and respected.

What will happen to the concept of "writer"?

We will observe…


March 18, 2021, 22:59


Translation from Russian into English: March 19, 2021 01:04.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский “Писатель. Что означает это слово? Лингвистическая заметка”.