Hypertext Week 2 - Ava Garcia

 My Body a Wunderkammer by Shelley Jackson felt like a very powerful and personal piece that explores the relationship between the human identity and the body. It is more of a memoir style hypertext where you get to select different images of the author's body and read mediations associated with each of her body parts. I previously brought Shelley Jackson's other work Patchwork Girl to the table so it was interesting to get to read another piece of work by her. They both have a similar concept of exploring the body but My Body a Wunderkammer felt more personal and relatable as it is a semi autobiographical piece. I thought this was such a beautiful piece to read and I applaud Jackson for being able to create a piece like this one.


I also found Entre Ville to be a very enjoyable and creative piece to read. I loved how J.R Carpenter created an interactive neighborhood combining movie clips, drawings, photographs, and audio to make you feel like you really are in a bustling neighborhood. It felt like a more fun and lighthearted piece to go through and I loved how it almost felt like you were actually in the neighborhood every time you clicked into a different window or part of the apartment. It was one of the most immersive pieces of electronic literature I have read as well as the first one I have interacted with that combined audio recordings into the story which I really enjoyed. 


“A Cyborg Manifesto” by Donna Haraway explores how machines can be used as a feminist tool. Most people would likely view this idea as something futuristic but it was interesting to read about how Haraway believes that we are already cyborgs. It is an exploration into “what does it mean to be a human?” I liked the “Because a cyborg is a hybrid of the machine and the organism, it merges nature and culture into one body, blurring the lines between them and eliminating the validity of essentialist understandings of human nature. This includes claims that there are specific social roles reserved for each of the sexes which are based on biological differences between them, in addition to other differences such as age or race.” Through her notion of the cyborg, Haraway calls for a new form of feminism that takes into account fundamental changes that technology brings to our bodies. I wasn’t able to read the entire piece, but I found her comparison and relationship between the body and technology an interesting concept to learn more about.

Comments

  1. Dr. MFebruary 20, 2023 at 8:14 AM

    I agree the audio makes Entre Ville more immersive. Something to think about in your own work :). We are sort of cyborgs, at least moreso than when the manifesto was written, since we carry our technology in our pocket, hand, or on our bodies...

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