Swedile in the Classroom #2 - The challenges of hybrid forms of electronic writing

Having read Dene Grigar’s essay on hybrid forms of electronic writing, I was reminded of some thoughts I’ve had on the direction in which we read and write as a society. First of all, I’d like to point out that this essay, probably the first scholarly essay I’ve seen written like this (i.e. one not on a blog), uses Hypertext. I find that very interesting. However, what I find most interesting is not that Hypertext was used, but that it was used without changing the format of the annotated essay we’ve all seen and written.

The Hypertext was simply inserted into the essay, as many scholars would insert a reference to another scholarly work or an example from which they draw thoughts on or allude to. The writer did not have to alter the usual writing style to any degree to insert these links. Why is it the format of the essay already established - many decades before the advent of the personal computer and the Internet – lend itself so well to Hyperlinking? I think that speaks to the nature of the human mind and how we read, or perhaps more appropriately, how we’ve always wanted to read.

I don’t believe human beings think as linearly as we sometimes like to think we do. Speaking from personal experience, I can say my thought process, when reading at least, is both linear and non-linear at the same time. If I read an essay that has sources cited, or reading about something in an encyclopedia that mentions only briefly another subject, I often think (if the source cited is interesting), “Huh, I should look around for that. It might be interesting and informative.” I don’t believe I’m alone on this, either, considering the outstanding success of Wikipedia, which satisfies our instant curiosity; if you’re reading about Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, and you suddenly think, “Gee, I’d like to know what else Frank Miller has done,” a link within the article itself links to a page on Frank Miller, and often times even a specialized page just on the works of the artist/writer.

The way I see it, human beings have, if not for eons, than at least for a number of centuries, have been prepared to read the way we read now. The only think preventing that was technology. Gutenberg could not burn links into the paper with his printing press, nor could it be transmitted with the speed at which we have now. The best people could do for years was to provide directions to the source, which they could check when they found the time and energy to do it. Now, the information is right there at our fingertips. However, I’m sure that, had the technology existed, people in Johannes’s time would be browsing Albert II and Hyperlinking to previous rulers of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and what have you. I think we’ve always been ready for this sort of reading experience; the problem was that technology just didn’t exist until recently. To have arguments about how it’s classified, and debates over the term “new media” versus “Electronic Literature” or “Electronic writing” seems like splitting hairs. It’s like Eagleton said, writing simply changes with the zeitgeist. And I’m sure it’s not done changing yet.

- Chris Muise