The Sweet Old Etcetera

For this week’s electronic literature focus piece, we have chosen The Sweet Old Etcetera. A highly interactive, sound-based poem displayed in an engaging and playful manner.  Author Alison Clifford incorporates work from poet Edward Estlin Cummings, E.E. for short, in a way that grabs the reader's attention. There are several layers to the format; however, the interactive components are found in the foreground, making it easy for the reader to locate them. This allows the reader to put more emphasis and thought into the content of the poem, rather than the flashy artwork. Although, it is also important to mention that the reader adds layers to the picture as they progress through the poem. This three-dimensional aspect helps bring character and life to the poem, which compliments the digital nature of this work.

The reader’s primary interaction with the work is through the swaying tree visible at the start.  The reader is free to explore whatever section of the work they choose by clicking on a tree branch.  This type of interactivity allows the reader to stay engaged in the poem, while exposing them to the various sights and sounds of the work.  After the reader goes through a part of the poem an additional element of artwork is added in the form of ground, hills, sky, or clouds.  Clicking and repeating the process allows the story and picture to grow, ultimately creating a beautiful poem and illustration.

This format is definitely a hybrid, and the integration of poetry into a virtual landscape fits well in a literary sense.  The story will not proceed without interactor input, but the segment of the story currently inhabited will remain active.  There is a pleasant balance between interactivity and ambient animation, such as the tone-producing flowers near the tree.  The animations of wind, flowers, birds, and the tree bring about a sort of natural life to the virtual space.  Sound is also an important digital element to the perception of this piece. It is present only during interactions, bringing another quality of electronic literature.

The branches of the swaying tree can be explored in a nonlinear fashion.  Different segments of the poem are revealed by the interactor.  Pieces fall as they are called, and then float off as they are clicked away.  The animation of the text coming and going also reinforces the poetry.  For example, lines regarding falling leaves seem to waft down into place, and then fall and fade away.  The letters of a scrambled version of the word “grasshopper”, make short jumps onto and off of the page.

Our only question: who wrote this poem?  Was it E.E. Cummings himself? Was it us, as the reader, interacting with the words and phrases? Could it be the author, responsible for its code? The software itself?  It seems the poetry itself is owed to Cummings, while the interactive display, enriching animations, and unpredictable order construct a unique character whose source is a mixture of them all.

88 Constellations

We chose to center our analysis for this week’s blog post on 88 Constellations for Wittgenstein, an interactive, exploratory digital narrative by David Clark.  After a short introduction, the interactor is taken to a vast display of stars.  Upon clicking on one of the constellations, the reader is exposed to various digital stories, all which have multiple tangents in and of themselves. 88 Constellations may be considered a misleading title, as it has very little to do with astronomy. However, it does seem to signify the arbitrary connections between the authors topics in relation to the illusory figures in the stars.

As far as medium, 88 Constellations is a very digital artifact. While the photos, video clips, and audio recordings could very well exist outside of the digital realm, the way it is all integrated into an interactive narrative can only be accomplished digitally.  In other words, this particular work could be considered a hybrid due to the traditional style of writing being displayed on a digital platform.  The diagrams, drawings, and overlays are another important digital element. Both digitized and born-digital elements are presented to the user through a scripted kinetic medium that is neither purely video nor purely images and text, making this a worthy example of electronic literature.

A very interesting aspect of this digital narrative is its nonlinear nature. The interactor is free to explore to his or her contentment with minimal regard to order.  While seemly a biography of the Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein at its core, the story employs multiple integrated and at times disconnected plot lines.  It’s unfocused nature allows the author to be very flexible with content and integrate many related themes.  This allows both author and reader to follow patterns of thought.

As a group, our perceptions of the work’s structure are differing.  Most individuals in our group understandably viewed only a quarter to a third of the total constellations, but we would still consider our exposure to be obscure.  We each experienced very different perspectives of the narrative as a whole due to the directions we chose to take. Although it may be hard to see at first, the methods of delivery and exploration remain consistent. Additionally, the constellations do showcase interconnections between thoughts and ideas discussed in each “micro narrative.”  As Kirstin Butler states in her article, Wayfinding in Wittgenstein’s World: 88 Constellations, “Such a seemingly random connection is typical of 88 Constellations, a quality that makes it a very clever conspiracy theorist’s dream; because the cumulative effect of these pieces is the feeling of a system that’s not so random after all.”  So perhaps she is saying that the seemingly disjointed stories behind each constellation are a complicated collection of Wittgenstein’s philosophies of language and the world.

My Transformation

The Google maps essay is a very interesting format, and undoubtedly a form of electronic literature.  This story in particular describes a girl on her journey from Johnstown to the Middle East, from a small town girl to a combat veteran.  On the surface, the Google maps essay is similar to other traditional storytelling formats like books, blogs, and letters.  However, what makes this essay a form of electronic literature, and in our opinion what makes the message so powerful, is the ability to zoom in on the places the author describes.  This allows us to take a closer look at the places in which the author was deployed, and gives the reader a sense of the emotions one feels when embarking on a journey like the one she is describing.  If the reader takes the time to zoom in on some of the wild locations the author visited, they gain a better understanding of the emotions she describes.  This is something that conventional literature simply cannot mimic.

The map format enhances storytelling ability and reliability tremendously. The format lends itself to giving small teachings of geography.  “Where did this part of the story happen?”  “A few miles west of the third chapter.”  Maps allow the reader to understand the location of the narrative, and to relate his or her own personal experiences to those of the author.  Although this form of storytelling may challenge the author in several different ways, the final piece of literature is engaging and unique.  By formatting the story in a way that puts emphasis on the chronology and location of certain events, the concepts of travel and personal growth are magnified.  When the author splits every detail of the story into a different location on the map, it helps the reader understand the magnitude of the move or journey that is taking place.  With this story, it helps to show the transitions from Johnstown to Texas, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and finally Afghanistan.

When one zooms out entirely from the map, the true scope of the journey and the distance between points can be realized.  This story also makes excellent use of titling the locations and using dialogue to deepen the emotional breadth of the experience.  The format also presents interesting opportunities to add additional forms of media such as pictures, videos, animations, paths, and polygons.  The opportunity for nonlinear or even exploration-based storytelling is also an interesting consideration.  In the dawn of a new era in literature, the possibilities for expressing personal narratives are endless, and this is only the beginning.

What is/are Digital Humanities?

The Digital Humanities are a diverse group of disciplines unified by one core aspect, digital technology. Due to its diverse nature, no single definition has the ability to encompass all that falls within the term Digital Humanities. Rather, a working definition that can be applied to many different disciplines seems to be more sufficient. From social networks, to archives on virtually every document ever written, we begin to see the size and scope of what the Digital Humanities actually include. As Kathleen Fitzpatrick explains, “The field’s background in humanities computing typically, but far from exclusively, results in projects that focus on computing methods applicable to textual materials.” Fitzpatrick touches on one facet as to what  Digital Humanist actually do, while eluding to the various other possibilities and applications in the DH world. In summation, Digital Humanities can be defined as using modern day, digital technology to study the traditional humanities, as well as studying modern digital artwork through the lens of contemporary humanities concepts.

Boston College Digital Humanities Terms

Digital Humanities is one of the newest disciplines within the Humanities.  Many people are still trying to figure out how to define Digital Humanities in a way that everyone will understand it, but this may end up being an impossible task for those trying to do so.  DH is becoming more and more an area of study using the various technologies that we are able to get our hands onto in the 21st century.  As stated by Kathleen Fitzpatrick in, “The Humanities, Done  Digitally”, Kathleen goes onto say that digital humanities is starting to grow into “humanities computing”. Humanities computing could mean a variety of things like; archiving, using digital means to write poems/works of literature, etc. Kathleen also states that one of the projects already started in the discipline of Digital Humanities is the “production of a large-scale digital text collection for scholarly studies”.  I would have to agree with Kathleen in that, archiving is the next big thing to happen for all of the pieces of literature, poems, and works of art that have been produced in history.  Other means of digital enhancement could help to preserve history and allow future generations to use the technology that has evolved.  By the time our children have children, maybe a definitive definition will be in stone to define Digital Humanities, but on the other hand, probably not!

The Digital Humanities, there is no definitive 
definition.  It is personal to everyone who attempts to define it, different with each person.  For me, it is defined as the study of human culture, communication, and interaction, through the digital realm.  Culture without followers Communication without a voice. Interaction without a face.  Nothing can define the digital humanities yet.  That fact may change within the next decade.  As technology evolves, so will our culture, communication, and interactions.  New ideas will arise, and old beliefs will fall.  It’s crazy how fast the evolution of technology has happened.  Not even two centuries ago the light bulb was the pinnacle of technology. Handwritten letters delivered on horseback dominated communication for thousands of years, now we have the instantaneous use of the internet.  Just a few decades ago, “digital humanities” were two words never uttered in the same sentence. Now we struggle to define it, but we all have a very basic idea on what it could be.  Its potential could be limitless.  It is our responsibility to see if that is true.

The digital humanities are a developing field melding the utilization of digital technologies in the exploration of creative elements of the humanities.  This expands to multiple branches. Simple archival of written works was only the beginning.  Now immersive digital narratives in virtual realities are crafted entirely by digital means.  The works are as digital as they are literary, and they cannot be fully experienced without the technologies inherent in their design. Perhaps unfortunately, it seems as though the definition of digital humanities may be beyond the scope of any individual to define or realize.  “With over 800 definitions provided by the experts it seems as though the digital humanities are what we make them.”  This is an ironic description considering the profound creative potential that can be realized with access to modern digital tools.  I am less excited about the definition, however, and much more so about the ramifications.  For me, the most fascinating application of digital humanities is in media designed, created, and consumed within the constraints of digital technology.  In-class observations such as eternally-magnifiable photo-poetry or location-based essays crafted through “Google Maps” yield an interesting perspective on how a medium crafted to convey raw data can be used for much more than that: a story; a segment of relatable human experience. My discipline focuses on the digital: raw data and the hardware and software involved in its existence and processing.  It is encouraging to consider applications of technology beyond that, a sort of creative endeavor between man and machine, and I am excited to explore further and refine my definition.