The electronic text that I have chosen is called Storyland by Nanette Wylde. This text displays short fragmented stories, broken up by sentences appearing one by one. However, before any of the text appears, an animated heading can be observed. Flashing colorful letters flicker in and out and finally become stationary as a circus or carnival calliope audio plays in the background. Once the story has completely appeared, and the reader has had a chance to read it, a simple click on the “new story” button in the bottom right corner causes the calliope music to start once again and a new and completely different story to appear.
I found this digital text very entertaining and interesting. I feel that it defies the traditional literary boundaries by the addition of animation of the page and the organization of the story. Upon first glance at the page and the animated heading and the music I realized that this piece would not at all be boring as some older,more antiquated, and non-digital texts can be.
It is for this reason that I believe Sven Birkerts would loathe this piece of literature and Katherin Hayles would applaud it. In Chapter 11 of The Gutenberg Elegies, Sven explains how hypertexts are becoming more prominent and how he believes that most people will never fully switch over the the new digital age, that when given
“the choice between univocal and polyvocal, linear and “open,” readers will opt for the more traditional package; that the reading act will remain rooted in the original giver-receiver premise [...].” (pg. 164)
Basing mainly off of this statement, I believe that Birkerts would not be able to appreciate the every changing format of Storyland. Unlike print books, one could never look back on the same text twice when reading Storyland. I believe that this is one of the many reasons why Birkerts is having such a hard time accepting hypertext as the new form of literature.
In complete contrast, I believe that Katherine Hayles would be in complete and utter approval of Storyland and the way that it is animated and organized. Throughout her book writing machines, she advocates for the coming of the new age of technology. She explains how the shift towards a totally multimedia world is becoming more and more feasible as more and more writers are crossing the boundaries of print and creating new and exciting pieces of literature. She explains in Chapter 3 of Writing Machines that she, herself, when it comes to literature in the modern day,
“was less interested in reinforcing boundaries [...] than in seeing what happened it you romp over them, which second generation works were exuberantly doing as they moved toward multimedia, creating works that contained components drawn from literature, visual arts, computer games, and programming practices.” (pg. 45)
It becomes clear here that Hayles would indefinitely appreciate the animated features and not continuous nature of Storyland. I believe that she understands where modern day multimedia is taking literature and she is in total approval of the transformation taking place.
