Turning and turning in the widening gyre The

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. - W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”

Hypertext and the Evolution of the Modern English Language Nerd Night Presentation May 12, 2011 By Jenna Duncan Writer, Instructor @ GCC

WHAT IS HYPERTEXT? A term coined by theorist Theodor H. Nelson in the 1960 s: “Non-sequential writing—text that branches and allows choices to the reader, best read at an interactive screen…” Text chunks that lead the reader down different pathways. Example: “New Perverse Logics” http: //www. cyberartsweb. org/cpace/body/dgmt/main. html

WHAT IS HYPERTEXT? Vannevar Bush’s concept: “Chains of links might themselves comprise a new form of scholarly writing. ” Interactivity Intertextuality De-centering (of power) Accessibility Multi-platform Multimedia

What is intertextuality? • The relationship between texts—especially literary ones! Heteroglossia (many meanings within one text) - Bakhtin Postmodern Literature

Convergence Culture

Convergence Culture CENTRAL DEVICE COMMUNICATION Visual PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS ENTERTAINMENT Video Text Physical/ body language Air Companionship Vocal Interpersonal Sleep Food Gaming

Evolution of Texting: From Cuneiform to OMG

Acronym-ity

De-Centering the Text Derrida – Abandon our conceptual system! Rethink ideas of: Center Margins Hierarchy Linearity

De-Centering the Text Replace with: Multilinearity Nodes Links Networks “All texts have variable applications and purposes” (Jenkins 106)

REVOLUTION! - Hypertext changes how we speak and how we are spoken to. - Levels the playing field; democratizes texts “Almost all are party to this paradigm shift…” - Jenkins We are all connected, we are all “textual, ” we are all empowered, we are all user/generators!* * with some exceptions: ie. Third World, victims of oppressive regimes, the incarcerated

REVOLUTION/EVOLUTION But it comes with some warnings… 1. Impersonal – everyone sitting around, privately using; a “denaturing” of language 1. Validity – Instant info. = good info. ? 2. A deprecation of the language: If the rules change too fast, we no longer have a common ground upon which to stand; we no longer have a base of language to understand one another. “Things fall apart, the center does not hold…”

Be Empowered - Use Hypertext “The Machine is Us/ing Us” http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=NLl. Gopy. XT_g

Works Cited “Desertion. ” Wikipedia. org. 24 April 2011. Web. 10 May 2011. <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/AWOL#Absence_without_leave> Eyal, Segal, et al. "The Intertextual Thread: A Newcultural Unit in Hypertext. " Leonardo Electronic Almanac 12. 9 (2004): N. PAG. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. “Is English Changing? ” ed. Betty Birner. Linguistic Society of America. nd. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <www. lsadc. org/info/pdf_files/Is_English_Changing. pdf> Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP. 2006. Print. Landow, George P. Hypertext 3. 0: Critical Theory and New Media in a Global Era. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. Google Books. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. Language. Films Media Group, 1999. Films On Demand. Web. 10 May 2011. <http: //digital. films. com/Portal. Playlists. aspx? aid=8949&xtid=10177>.

Works Cited 2. 0 Lanham, Richard A. "What's Next for Text? . " Education, Communication and Information 1. 1 (2001): 15 -36. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011. Levy, Pierre. Collective Intelligence: Mankind’s Emerging World in Cyberspace. Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Books. 1997. Print. Robertson, Stephen. "What's Wrong with Online Readings? Text, Hypertext, and the History Web. " History Teacher 39. 4 (2006): 441 -454. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011. “Scrabble. ” Wikipedia. org. 4 May 2011. Web. 10 May 2011. http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Scrabble Writing. Films Media Group, 1998. Films On Demand. Web. 10 May 2011. <http: //digital. films. com/Portal. Playlists. aspx? aid=8949&xtid=10178>.