Emoji Dick, the oh-man-how-did-this-actually-work-out emoji translation of Moby Dick, is now in the Library of Congress. Why wouldn't it be.


Emoji Dick originated in 2009, on Kickstarter. The book was compiled by Fred Benenson, who contracted thousands of people to translate one sentence of the book into emoji—each sentence of the book three times—and had the best translations voted into place. It raised a bit over its $3,500 goal, across 83 backers. We also heard from Benenson late last year, when his emoji Eustace Tilley was a finalist in the New Yorker's yearly contest.


Here are a few ways the Library of Congress has categorized the novel Emoji Dick:

Subjects: Ahab, Captain (Fictitious character)—Fiction. » More like this

Whaling ships—Fiction. » More like this

Whaling—Fiction. » More like this

Whales—Fiction. » More like this

Picture-writing in literature. » More like this

Description : 735 pages ; color illustrations ; 24 cm.

Media type: unmediated

Content type: text, other

So there you go, Emoji Dick, part of the national literary record. Picture-writing in literature. [Daily Dot]