Hypertext Fiction - Gwen West

In a way, electronic literature owes it's foundation to hypertext fiction, as it was the first genre of E-lit to really take flight. Post modernism was also an incredibly influential factor in the birth of hypertext fiction, as humans were truly starting to explore theory and literacy combined. Hypertext fiction was and still is monumental, but it is seldom used today in novel creations. I found it interesting that hypertext fiction has translated heavily into aspects of E-lit in todays society, such as 3D interactive creations and apps we can download on our devices. One concept from this chapter that stood out to me especially was that "hypertext is in the strange situation of being the genre that has been most written about in the field, while simultaneously the genre least actively pursued by writers in recent years" (Rettberg, 86). I found this so surprising, but when I started to think about it, we seldom see hypertext fiction from the most recent decade at all. It seems strange since it has been so monumental for the electronic literature community, but as technology evolves, so do the catalysts we use to create our work.

http://luckysoap.com/thegatheringcloud/frontispiece.html

The piece that I am bringing to the table this week is J.R. Carpenter's The Gathering Cloud, published in 2016. I immediately thought it was interesting that this was created in 2016, which is very recent considering hypertext fiction isn't all that common anymore. I really enjoyed Carpenters message on climate change in their work here, and how the "cloud" represents the carbon footprint that we as humans are leaving on this Earth. The layering of the images/visuals creates a symbolism alluding to our species contribution to tacking more and more emissions onto our atmosphere. 

(I liked the little cat feet section of this piece :)

Comments

  1. Dr. MFebruary 14, 2023 at 7:02 AM

    The Gathering Cloud is a wonderful piece, so full of metaphor! I love the cat feet too! :)

    ReplyDelete

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