Authors
The three digital texts are also similar in that; they are all dedicated to audiences with similar characteristics. For instance, the literary content of the texts is only completely accessible online, and may not serve its initial intended purpose if read as plain text. In addition, the audience to whom the texts are meant for, are also expected to possess some kind of computer literacy by for instance understanding the behaviour of hyperlinked texts like those featured in ‘Twelve Blue’, or an understanding of the need for visual speed and close attention while encoding the intended message from the flash based poetry of author Young- Hae Chang Heavy Industries. The digitalized texts are also tailored to thrill audiences and readers who are interested in exploratory types of literature, especially the types whose mode of delivery is non-interactive. This is for instance depicted by the various points of navigation and prompts within the texts (Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1). The various points of navigation are for instance bound to arouse curiosity or interest in readers or viewers, and if they happen to have a strong sense for exploration, they will tend to toggle and navigate through the texts and media platform in an attempt to find out what else could be embedded in the texts. Those with a basic knowledge in computers and related devices will not hesitate to click on the hyperlinks and prompts within the text. A good example of this may be seen on the poem ‘Twelve Blue’ in which the texts ‘follow me before the choices disappear’ are highlighted (Joyce 1). The eventual outcome of such texts on the digital poem is that; more readers or viewers will tend to click on it due to curiosity, and since the author had premeditated on the event, the action guides the reader as the audience to some other edge on the poem that makes new sense to the reader in a whole new way without raising the fear of being lost within the text.
The element of non interaction between the texts and the reader or audience to whom the latter is addressed for is also evident from the nature of texts and their audio visual characterization. For instance, the readers or viewers of Dakota are taken through a hyped literary modernist encounter with the poem since it mainly comprises of Jazz music and animated texts (Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1). As a result, the readers are more likely to get glued to their screens and do more watching than reading as the texts bounce about the screen and disappear within no time. This is even more elaborate in the poem ‘Twelve Blue’ as the reader is exposed to a hyper text narrative with story lines highlighted on the edge of the screen’s frame, the effect that this has on the reader or viewer is that; he or she will click his or her way through the poem until he has acquired an overview of all that is contained in the text.
The three digitalised texts are also similar in the fact that the audiences or readers are taken through similar experiences, and as such, the readers are found to have the same level of participation. For instance, the poems allow the readers to develop different perspectives with every new read they have on the texts. This enables the readers to acquire new meaning which is unlike most plain texts poems or literature materials. For instance, to achieve this; Anastasia relies on visual imagery that she employs as a replacement for texts, and with which readers find themselves observing new details and aspects every time them they peruse through the book (Salter 1). Michael Joyce on the other hand relies on attractive fonts and numerous star points, and with which readers are able to guide themselves into deriving new meanings from the different sections of the poem, for instance, she regularly shifts the point of view from characters to completely new story lines that would be quick to leave a non attentive reader floating in the process; Finally, Young- Hae Chang Heavy Industries on the other hand relies on a variety of media and styles to appeal to readers or viewers, and in the process create new meaning from the poem every time they read it, for instance, by using a combination of Jazz music and animated texts, the readers create different pictures about the characters depending on the media they pay more attention to (Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1).
The three digitalized texts also possess major differences in content and nature, and are also meant to highlight different themes. For instance, Anastasia Salter’s Alice in Dataland is a story book that is based on the remediation of an earlier comic book, and as such, the use of pictures and various images seems appropriate in the fact that; it achieves the intended purpose of its earlier version, while at the same time being a epitome of the dynamic nature and diversity of literary modernization (Salter 1). On the other hand, Young- Hae Chang Heavy Industries’ Dakota and Michael Joyce’s Twelve Blue are poems that are delivered through digitalised media as compared to the traditional poems that are channelled to readers through plain texts and literary devices as a way of arousing interest and curiosity among readers ((Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1).
The purpose of the three different authors is also varied as seen in the content found in their digital texts. For instance, the purpose behind the creation of Alice in Dataland is seen as being one that is aimed at reminding the viewers about the influences technological advances have on literature and artists. The author achieves this through remediation of the earlier text ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which is an earlier comic book that describes a young girl who develops a negative attitude towards texts that are provided to her by her Victorian sister (Salter 2). At first, the girls character appears unacceptable since the use of plain texts was the ideal way literal artists and linguists used to communicate at the time, and that the idea that visual images such as pictures and diagrams could be used to communicate possibly in a more effective way than texts was not yet regarded as plausible. The author therefore aims at refuting these claims by alluding to the latter day technological advancements in literature and linguistics. For instance, literature materials that are used in the modern day contain more images and visual content as compared to the traditional one. The use of information communication technology has enabled writers and authors to communicate more effectively through animation of texts and integration of audio visual materials in the form of slides, power point presentations, flash animation, hypertexts and musical backgrounds. Anastasia is therefore able to achieve Alice’s initial intended purpose of acquiring literature materials that do not contain too many texts and are equally interesting. Indeed the integration of animated texts and other audio visual components as embodied in modernised literature proves to be more appealing and advanced in Alice’s initially refuted fashion (Salter 1).
Young- Hae Chang Heavy Industries on the other hand aims at demonstrating the dynamic and versatile nature of modern literature. To achieve this he intertwines his poetic devices with flash animation and jazz music as seen in Dakota ((Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1). To him, encouraging readers and other authors stuck in traditional literature to appreciate and adopt literary modernization seems easy through practical means, and to achieve this, he uses digitalised media to Dakota which is a debaucherous adventure through digitalised texts to lovers of such poetry. By using different media, he is surely able to appeal to different readers in the way he incorporates the kinetic elements on a music background that ushers in the narrative laden text. To any common reader, encounter with Dakota is entirely thrilling since characters and the different media mimic events (Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1). The tradition forms of literature that are regarded by many as involving and monotonous, would find no match if authors would channel them to readers through digitalized texts. The same effect would be observed if artists who specialize in remediation of earlier literature would apply the same. A good example of this may be seen in the remediation of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to create the media-rich ‘Alice in Dataland’ that is heavily laden with audio visual elements through an online platform (Salter 1). In addition, Young- Hae Chang Heavy Industries is also able to depict the true aesthetic quality of poetry like any piece of art; he achieves this through colourful fonts and flash animations that are useful in breaking monotony by a reader (Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries 1).
The purpose of Michael Joyce in the Poem ‘Twelve Blue’ may be seen as one that is directed towards depicting the dynamic nature of literature that resembles that of the websites or the internet (Joyce 1). For instance, she opts to tell a simple story by making it appear complex through digitalised means. The essence of poetry according to most poets is that of simplifying life experiences through texts. However, Michael Joyce aims at illustrating the very opposite by conveying a simple narrative in a complex manner. By using HTML hyper texts and numerous prompts around the poem, Michael appears to be making efforts to lure the reader from his or her reading course, and after which, the links are seen to lead to a different part of the literature that is surprisingly coherent and informative. The complex nature of the poem is seen in the fact that a reader is able to navigate to different parts of the texts as guided by the hyperlinks, and is still able to make sense out of the new words and sentences he or she encounters immediately. To get more effect from these, the author appears to be intertwining literary devices in a skilful manner as a way of building up on the complexity of the poem (Joyce 1). For instance, she frequently shifts attention from different characters to different story lines, which later on proves to be her self-made style of introducing the reader to deeper insights of the character’s character. The poem ‘Twelve Blue’ is also laden with different starting points within the same text, which appears to be a way of helping the reader develop new meanings by reading through different line sequences.
Conclusion
The three digital texts are similar in the way the authors express their literal prowess through literary modernization, which may be seen as a way of expressing the dynamic and evolving nature of literature. By integrating technological advancements in Information and Communication Technology, the authors are seen to skilfully illustrate the aesthetic quality of literature that advances whenever it is conveyed through a digitalized format. These is seen in the fact that texts that are laden with audio visuals, flash animations, hypertexts, and colourful fonts, are more appealing if compared with plain texts that have no visual images and audio properties as it was in the case of traditional literature.
Work Cited
Salter Anastasia "Alice in Dataland." Alice in Dataland. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2016.
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries. "DAKOTA." DAKOTA. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2016.
Joyce, Michael. "Twelve Blue." Twelve Blue: Michael Joyce. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2016.
