In modern society, we are consistently encompassed by the increasing relevance of technology in our daily lives. We spend the daytime glued to the computer screen, writing essays, and viewing emails, and often our “breaks” consist of transferring our attention to scrolling through social media. During the night, after returning home from school or work, we turn on the television and binge watch our favorite shows or throw on a movie. Although technology has advanced our abilities to gain knowledge and increased convenience levels, there are many debates that arise as to whether these innovations are beneficial. One of the debates arises from the use of hypertexts in the form of electronic literature and whether this is a valid format for literature to take place in. Sven Birkerts, in The Gutenberg Elegies chapter called “Hypertext: Of Mouse and Man” illustrates his concerns on utilizing electronic literature after attempting to participate in Victory Garden, a hypertext by Stuart Moulthrop. Birkerts claims that the format of electronic literature takes the reader into a world of distraction and lack of deeper reading and thinking as opposed to traditional printed literature. In contrast, Janet Murray in her introduction to Hamlet on the Holodeck called “Cyber drama,” presents her support of electronic literature. Murray identifies that electronic literature and the use of technology is “a thrilling extension of human powers” (Murray 5) in which it demonstrates an innovative interpretation of printed text that does not serve to replace traditional literature but rather offers a different format of the literature. After reading hypertexts from the “Electronic Literature Collection (volume 1),” specifically “The dreamlife of letters” and “The Fall of the Site of Marsha,” I was enabled to understand both Birkerts’ and Murray’s viewpoints of electronic literature.
In “The dreamlife of letters” by Brian Kim Stefans, a poetry animation based on a text by Rachel Blau DePlessis that “explores the ground between classic concrete poetry, avant-garde feminist practice, and ambient poetics,” I personally found myself in agreement with Birkerts. The reader or viewer is prompted to click on one of the “A’s” presented in which a pop-up appears with an introduction paragraph cuing the reader to “run poem” to surface an appearing collection of words associated with each letter of the alphabet. Although the animation is visually pleasing, the text is quite distracting and sporadic as well as difficult to interpret its purpose. After viewing the video, I suppose the intent arises with portraying the multitudes of ways that poetry can be expressed by showing different fonts and variations of words. If Birkerts viewed this animation, I believe he would regard it with distaste, his opposition arising from the methods of “word-piloting” as he mentions in his “Hypertext: Of Mouse and Men” chapter as well as the lack of deeper reading this animation entails. Personally, I find myself in agreement with him as the animated poetry is difficult to focus on and there appears to be a lack of deeper reading as each of the words is presented to the reader as somewhat of a video. In this case, the “metamorphosis of the word” (Birkerts 156) is apparent as the medium of technology enables the words to be portrayed in a way that printed literature is unable to do through the movement of the words. However, I feel as though the electronic format enables the text to be more engaging to the reader whereas if it were words associated with the alphabet on a printed page, the interpretation and focus of the reader may be just the same if not to a lesser degree.
In “The Fall of the Site of Marsha,” three different sites labeled Spring ‘98, Summer ‘98, and Fall ‘98 are presented, each associated with the character Marsha and her obsession with “Throne Angels.” Throughout each of the sites, the story of Marsha, her friend Bits, and her husband Mike progressively becomes darker as the alleged “Angels” begin to take over her site and manipulate her personal relationships. The reader is prompted to click multiple extensions of the home page, including a private chat room where most of the drama arises, particularly regarding the affair of her friend and husband, and the allegations of Marsha contributing to her father’s death. Although reading this hypertext made me feel uneasy as the story was filled with spine-chilling events related to the supernatural, I found myself eager to progress through the sites to learn about Marsha’s story. In correlation with Janet Murray’s views on hypertext, I find that this is a unique and artistic format to portray a storyline, accomplishing what a printed text may be unable to do through the embedded links and images that embody the eeriness of the plot. As I read, I found myself experiencing the deeper, focused reading that Birkerts believes hypertexts lack, asking myself questions about the meaning of the story; Is this all in Marsha’s head? Is the mention of painkillers alluding to the idea that Marsha has killed herself or was murdered? As Murray mentions, “The computer is not the enemy of the book. It is the child of print culture, a result of the five centuries of organized collective inquiry and invention that the printing press made possible.” (Murray 6) Personally, I feel as though elements of printed literature such as style, plot, and emotion are embodied within this story and the electronic format is simply just an innovation of the printed text but is not taking away from it as it is an entirely different format.
Overall, I feel experiencing the electronic hypertexts were efficient in aiding me understand both views, Birkerts and Murray, as I see the negatives and positives of reading utilizing technology rather than the printed text. After reading the hypertexts and Birkerts chapter “Hypertext: Of Mice and Men” I am left with a few questions for him: Do you believe there is any value in reading in the electronic format that printed text cannot offer? Do you believe hypertexts and printed text can coexist separately as Murray believes? For Murray: Although you believe hypertexts are a positive contribution to society, do you think they may overthrow the purpose of printed texts? In terms of “what’s next?” for our next project, I believe I will side more with Birkerts views while also providing evidence that hypertexts can offer certain elements that printed text is unable to.
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