Javier Aparicio Maydeu, lecturer of Spanish Literature and Comparative Literature at the department of Humanities at UPF, is the director and creator of the UPF-IDEC master's degree programme in Publishing and Editing, a programme of reference in the sector which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary. On the afternoon of 2 July, this important date will be celebrated with a ceremony in the Auditorium of the Balmes building, which will involve a talk with the editorial chiefs of Grupo Planeta and Penguin Random House.

Literary critic of the supplement Babelia of the newspaper El País and writer, he has recently published La imaginación en la jaula. Razones y estrategias de la creación coartada (Cátedra), a book that concludes his tetralogy that began with Lecturas de ficción contemporánea. De Kafka a Ishiguro, followed by El desguace de la tradición. En el taller de la narrativa del siglo XX, and extended with Continuidad y ruptura. Una gramática de la tradición en la cultura contemporánea.

At Pompeu Fabra University, Javier Aparicio Maydeu is Culture delegate and a member of the Board of Management.

1- In La imaginación en la jaula you claim that the traditional concepts of creation and imagination have changed radically in recent times. Can you tell us in what way?

The market and ICTs have forced us to make the distinction between creation (the desire to prevail, effort as a value, the desire to project a personal universe...) and creativity (spontaneity, participation and adaptation to winning trends...).

The digital world, in addition, pushes citizens to become "content creators" and to become, in one way or another, authors. And desktop publishing has diminished the filters, so that accessibility to visibility has increased. Now the links between creator and creation are not necessarily so obvious. A lot of contemporary creation is either derivation - appropriation - recycling, or is directly an artistic selfie!

A lot of contemporary creation is either derivation - appropriation - recycling, or is directly an artistic selfie!

2-  What room for manoeuvre do authors who do not adapt to this "monitored" environment have in order to see their projects succeed?

There are digital media that generate friendly environments that facilitate the creativity and the gestation of an artistic product (Instagram, Wattpad, Storify...). They tell you they open the doors to your creativity; in reality, what they often do is rather make you follow a line, "they accompany you..." But do they accompany you to where you really want to go? Before, the author went to look for the system (agents, publishers, curators, dealers, etc.), now the system goes to look for the author. The ivory tower has collapsed. And now if you have followers on Twitter you can be an author even if you have no calling or talent.

3- Are technology and the new patterns of consumption the main culprits of the transformation of the concepts of authorship and talent?

Yes, to a large extent. Digitalization has deleted part of the concept of intellectual property. Everything seems anonymous. That's why there has been a growth in artistic remixes, recycling, appropriationisms. Now the author wants to follow the winning trend, and s/he no longer cares so much about his/her possible interest or initial goal. Creation is no longer the consequence of the personality of the creator, or not necessarily. The figures, rather than the traditional criteria, are what mark the existence or not of talent, so we are forced to reconsider the old concept of talent. Now we have to talk about creative, recreational and for-profit creation.

4- What idea of talent are you trying to convey through the master's degree programme?

Participatory talent and strategic talent, talent with a knowledge of cause and talent that is not at all eccentric: it is not about getting there, but about getting there, staying there and leading. You have to know the competitors and learn from their mistakes and above all from your own.

5- What is the formula that has allowed the master's degree programme to successfully adapt to the rapid changes that the sector has undergone in recent years?

A lot of self-criticism, the ability to change contents at the rhythm of the market and trying to always collaborate with the leading companies and institutions in the publishing industry: Planeta, Penguin Random House, Google, Frankfurt Book Fair... Their confidence makes us great. University and enterprise form a very powerful combination if the relationship is not only formal but real.

6- Which profile and interests do the students taking the course have? Have they varied greatly over the years?

First the vast majority wanted to work for the best companies. In recent years they prefer to create their own. That's why they work in business creation workshops, finance for non-financiers, co-working... And we have always had the children of major publishers who want to update their companies, and many students of the country, Europeans and Americans who want to see the sector from close up and find out about its constantly evolving processes.

7- How does the master's degree programme affect the students' career development? What do they opt for when they finish?

They join major groups, publishers with smaller turnovers and equal quality, they create their own conventional companies, create nanojobs (taking advantage of the spaces the sector leaves as it evolves, they become consultants of digital publishing, new content, etc.).

8- During these twenty years, the master's degree programme has been characterized by inviting the leading figures of the world of publishing. The 20 ^th anniversary ceremony will not be an exception...

We've managed to get legends of international publishing such as Gallimard, Feltrinelli, Andrew Wylie, the chairman of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Jonathan Galassi of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, and Peter Mayer of Penguin to want to give lectures throughout these twenty years. But for the 20 ^th anniversary, we wanted to invite the great Portuguese editor Carlos da Veiga Ferreira, because he is the image of the vocation of editor: he created Teorema, sold it to a large group and created Teodolito, regaining its catalogue of deluxe authors. Quite a lesson for our young talents!

9- How do you see the role that culture has to play in the world of the university?

Culture cannot be anything but the cross-cutting subject of the training of any citizen, of any professional. It should never be seen as a luxury, but as a necessity, and not spiritual but simply "vital". A doctor who listens to Bach will never be a worse doctor, but it is highly likely s/he will be better. Only a fool thinks that culture is peripheral, accessory. And we have to be careful to avoid systematically mistaking culture and recreation. Culture does not have to be elitist, but it must be culture, not entertainment.

Culture should never be seen as a luxury, but as a necessity, and not spiritual but simply "vital"

10- Can you give us your appraisal of the cultural activities carried out at UPF?

Theatre and music with high level UPF groups. Assistance and cooperation with theatres and museums of the city. And we're creating the UPF Art Track, an interdisciplinary journey through the artistic heritage of UPF, open to the public and linked to cultural institutions of the highest level, because the university must be permanently and solidly connected to society, if not, we're doomed.