Week 10: Hypertext Is Only Natural?
Jay Bolter's article "Hypertext and the Remediation of Print" in Writing Space brought up a number of interesting ideas to me, but one of the most interesting was Bolter's implied claim that electronic writing is changing the level of inclusiveness in language. Bolter says "the goal of alphabetic writing is to simplify by exclusion. Electronic writing by contrast is inclusive and for that reason resonates with and reminds us of the earlier forms of writing. Eletronic writing seems in some ways to be more like hieroglyphics than it is like pure alphabetic writing" (37). When thinking about this statement, I again considered one of the ideas that interested me most in Bolter's visual rhetoric chapter, that visual rhetoric exists as an attempt to get closer to the "natural sign" that will collapse the space between signifier and signified. So, is hypertext only natural, and does it have the power to include those systems of language (and, consequently, their users) that have been fundamentally excluded since, as Bolter reminds me, the model of the Greek alphabet came to power and began to "drain the pictorial meaning of the written sign?" (36)

The politics of this subject fascinates me, even if I feel a bit skeptical. A fundamental mistake in conceiving of technology, we in the academy remind ourselves time and time again, is that it will be a great equalizing force. We can't afford to allow ourselves to believe that differences don't exist online, but Bolter seems to assert that the associative nature of hypertext writing undermines the relatively strict systems of linearity that have been imposed on composition (and thought) since writing began. Cultures whose systems of communication have historically depended on pictorial writing became more and more marginalized with the advent of alphabetic writing. Could hypertext re-empower them? Bolter almost seems to say as much. I'm not so sure.

I don't know. Since composing with a computer still depends on an alphabetic keyboard, no matter what language system you're using. I'm thinking of my previous post where I mention that electronic composition in Mandarin (a pictorial-based writing system) is done by typing pinyin, at least on most personal computers. Even if one was to create a hypertextual composition using pictorial writing, one would still have to compose using this alphabetic keyboard and, probably, alphabetic software.

Although I agree with Bolter that hypertext really does change the way we read and write, I remain doubtful that it is as inclusive as Bolter seems to imply.