technotext

My Mother Was a Computer: Digital Subjects and Literary Texts by N. Kathryn Hayles as well as Writing Machines also by N. Kathryn Hayles provided a good read and an especially meaningful one because I used the computer to read them. This allowed me to understand better what they were describing in the text in terms of linkages between the meaning of the text and the medium that the text is in. For example, I had to read both of the books in the hard copy first because not every page was available for free online. This kind of limitation, as well as the mode of scrolling through the pages enabled for much faster jumping between pages and one could actually see any two pages simultaneously. Therefore, it transformed both books into hypertexts, where in their hard copy, they are simply regular old texts. The conditions for them to qualify as hypertext, according to Writing Machines were satisfied and that made understanding these conditions quite simple. However, I particularly loved the Anipoems by Ana Maria Uribe and The Dreamlife of Letters by Brian Kim Stefans. The Anipoems almost all made me laugh because they were so basic but each one was like a puzzle such that at first it was hard to understand. When one is expecting to see centaurs but a screen full of the letter “h” appears, it is difficult to interpret what the letter “h” has to do with centaurs. Essentially, instead of looking at the letter and seeing its shape, I read it. It brought the realization that I am truly programmed, without thinking, to associate that particular shape with a meaning or an idea: the sound that “h” makes in English. Therefore, it took me just a few seconds to realize that the “h” really does look like a centaur and the fact that there were many on the page made it look like a herd of centaurs. This realization also made looking at the Host of Halfties, Shoal of Mermaids, and Flock of Angles a lot easier to comprehend. Where these anipoems truly shine, however, is in their poetic value. They are whimsical and humorous and convey a sense of wonder at the internet and at digital animating of text and how seemingly limitless it is. Further, they are very fitting in terms of what could be considered “internet culture.” They are very sarcastic, creative, and light-hearted and these are all qualities that I associate with internet culture. The Dreamlife of Letters is another great example of internet culture and the creative possibilities associated with digital texts. Alphabetizing the words of a text by another author and then presenting them in this manner draws equal attention to the words themselves as well as the individual letters. Further, because of the digital medium of the text, the letters and words are able to move, even if not interacting directly with the watcher, and thus convey in motion the meaning of both the letter and word.