Material Textuality

1
Material Textuality

• Jan. 12th 2006

2
Agenda

• Attendance
• Questions
• What is a text?
• Terms
• Materiality Exercise
• Interpreting Hayles
• Online Lexicon, Webtake, and Reading Eye Dog
• Sign up for Wiki Presentations
• Looking Ahead Tue, Jan 17th

3
What is a Text?

• some manifestation of oral language in the form
  of written language
• the written word, organized and situated with
  the purpose to inform
• a form of writing used to express a certain
  concept, idea, feeling, story, etc
• text can be as simple as a letter or a word, a
  text is more complex, complete.

4
Complicating the Writing/Text relationship

• if words are the most important characteristic,
  meaning is probably the second most important
• texts that people may not consider as a text
  would probably be something similar to an
  instructional manual or a type of contract and
  other such similar documents

5
Complicating the Writing/Text Relationship

• it is something that is oftentimes intended to
  be accessible to the masses as some new found
  knowledge or supplement to that which is already
  known
• Much of the time a textbook contains pictures,
  diagrams, and graphs to accompany the writing.
  Does that make pictures, diagrams, and graphs
  text?

6
Breaking the Writing/Text Link

• a text can be many different forms, as long as
  it communicates something to an audience
• for instance, a movie, album, poem, or
  television show could all be considered textual
• Furthermore, any other such work that is
  displayed for an audience of any kind, should be
  thought of as text

7
Close Reading of Hayles

• Page 6, 2
• Page 19, 1
• Page 20, 1
• Page 25, 1
• Page 31, 1
• Page 33, 1
• Page 33, 2.1
• Page 33, 2.2

8
Interpreting Hayles

• What is she reacting to?
• What is her argument?
• How do we read the materiality of this text?
• Is this a technotext?
• What are the implications for reading texts?

9
Terms

• New Media
• Technotext
• Material metaphor
• Hypertext
• Media-specific analysis
• Materiality

10
Materiality Exercise

• Spend 10 minutes examining the book
• Describe the physical artifact of the book
• Summarize how the materiality of the book might
  affect your reading of it.

11
Additional Readings

• Online Lexicon Linkmap
• Webtake
• Reading Eye Dog

12
Wiki Presentation Sign Ups
13
Looking Ahead

• Readings Due
• Password protected readings
• http//kimknight.com/?pageid_4
• Wiki Presentation