Cyborg Manifesto and Hypertext

    The hypertext My Body a Wunderkammer by Shelley Jackson is a piece that I have admired since I first became introduced to her work. The vivid descriptions that create a flow of clear pictures in the readers mind as she describes every piece of herself catches my attention beyond what most art can do. One of my favorite lines in her piece writes, “when I get a tan, mottled with tiny white dots as with sunlight through leaves,” (Jackson). The image I can form in my mind about both of these things, and her bringing the similarity between the two together is very beautiful, and I love that her work is so eloquent and expressive. The wholesomeness of her words that the reader can relate to, with her thoughts about herself and her appearance that are easily related to. I always enjoy going back to this hypertext and once again clicking threw it, always finding more to love about her work of art. The hypertext Entre Ville by J. R. Carpenter was also very interesting to interact with. I enjoyed clips that were used, as most hypertext I have seen almost exclusively includes images, audio, and text. My favorite video segment was the trumpet being played outside of her house. I loved the quiet sound of the trumpet being played, having been recorded through the sunlit window making the scene seem so warm and heavenly. 

     "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist feminism in the 1980s” by Donna Haraway wrote about a cyborg, which could be related to Jackson’s work as well. She used a cyborg to create her argument to teach the readers to separate mind and body from one another. She discusses the struggle of imagining a genderless society, but provides examples through technology. I do believe that gender will eventually be much more watered down than it is today, but leaving it entirely will unfortunately be something that cannot happen anytime soon. Haraway also discusses other topics, but there was so much material that could’ve been shaved away to create a clearer message that it was hard for me to understand much of the details that she included. 

Comments

  1. AnnaFebruary 19, 2023 at 8:18 PM

    I think your comment about cyborgs is an interesting one. Personally, I can see how we can become conditioned to that mentality of adaption as humans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. MFebruary 20, 2023 at 12:20 PM

    I'm almost certain Shelley Jackson would see herself as a cyborg! :)

    ReplyDelete

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