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From Text to Tech: Theorizing Changing Experimental Narrative Structures

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From Text to Tech: Theorizing Changing Experimental Narrative Structures FROM TEXT TO TECH: THEORIZING CHANGING EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURES BY ALEJANDRA ORTEGA A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS English May, 2015 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Copyright Alejandra Ortega 2015 Approved By: Melissa Jenkins, Ph.D., Advisor Judith Madera, Ph.D., Chair Joanna Ruocco, Ph.D. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to first and foremost thank my mom, Maria Ortega, for everything she has sacrificed (all the late nights, patience, and no-bake cookies) as I pursue a graduate degree and a difficult career path. I would also like to thank my advisor, Dr. Melissa Jenkins, for not only taking on a thesis topic that is complicated and not in her area of study, but for guiding me through my two years at Wake Forest University. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Judith Madera and Dr. Joanna Ruocco, for their input and guidance throughout this thesis writing process. And finally, I would also like to extend a thank you to Dr. Eric Wilson, Dr. Susan Harlan, and Dr. Ryan Shirey, for all of their time in educating, advising, and working with me. Despite any doubts, in the end, I believe Wake Forest University was where I needed to be. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations………………………………………………………………………..iv Abstract………………………………………………………………………………...….v Introduction……………………………………………………………………....….........vi Chapter One: “Muss es sein?”: The Typographical Innovations of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves……………………………………………..1 Chapter Two: “But what I show you I must also tell you.”: The Enhanced Reading of Mark Z. Danielewski’s The Fifty Year Sword………………………………..…….27 Chapter Three: Reading Video Games: Cognitive and Physical Responses with Artificial Intelligence in Ken Levine’s BioShock Infinite…………………………………….61 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….89 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………............93 End Notes……………………………………………………………………………….104 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….111 Curriculum Vitae……………………………………………………………………….115 iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: First Appearance of the Minotaur………………………………………………………………………………93 Figure 2: Cut-out Boxes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….94 Figure 3: The Minotaur Sword…………………………………………………………………………………………………..95 Figure 4: Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………96 Figure 5: One Voice…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..97 Figure 6: Harvester Butterfly…………………………………………………………………………………………………….98 Figure 7: The Forest of Falling Notes…………………………………………………………………………………………99 Figure 8: Pry Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………….100 Figure 9: Possible Assisted Weaponry……………………………………………………………………………………..101 Figure 10: Hall of Heroes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………102 Figure 11: Finkton……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………103 Figure 12: Daisy Fitzroy Concept Art……………………………………………………………………………………….104 Figure 13: Elizabeth Concept Art……………………………………………………………………………………………..105 iv ABSTRACT It is my objective with this thesis to examine the relation between form and content in the experimental post-modern American text. I seek to redefine our understanding of what it means to be an “author,” as well as a “reader.” In doing so, my project offers a space to begin bridging traditional and experimental scholarship to suggest a coexistence between print and digital forms. Through a progression of the mediums, I analyze how different narratives challenge the boundaries of their form. The texts on which I focus are House of Leaves by Mark Danieleski, the enhanced ebook version of The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Danieleski (with a brief consideration of Tender Claws’ Pry), and Ken Levine’s BioShock Infinite. With each text, I break down how the specific medium strategically facilitates or disrupts the reading process, and how it lends itself to examining the narrative’s chosen thematic elements. I also examine reader interpretation, for which I have drawn from fan forums, media outlets, and social media surveys I conducted. Although these works are labeled as experimental, their incorporation of modern innovations ultimately blend with traditional modes of storytelling. Literature scholarship has largely focused on the parameters of what a novel is, as well as how print text has changed over time. However, as creators seek to utilize other mediums to convey their narratives, the question of the specific means of transferring the information to the reader should be called into question. v INTRODUCTION Literature that breaks the expected norms of narrative construction is not a new concept. Laurence Sterne’s 1759 novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy is one famed early work of experimental literature, and is often cited as the first true experimental text. Since Sterne’s novel, there have been those who have tested the limits of what narrative can do. In the post-modern American literary world, narrative forms are perpetually changing as creators seek to break past the conventional boundaries of fiction and create a new understanding of narrative structure. As creators move away from the standard expected narrative forms, it is the structure and the narrative that meld together in a symbiotic relationship to tell its story in a new and engaging way. Different media include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of photographic or creatively designed images, colored text, variable typesets, art, the use of technological advances (including the internet or artificial intelligence), as well as the use of unexpected materials (such as snow or tattoos). Experimental literature has reached new heights in influencing the way we read stories today, changing our perspective of what fiction can do. The new media field of study began to form in the late 1980s (Manovich 13). This field developed to include scholarship on hypertext, cybertext, and ergodic literature. In general, “hypertext” is an all-encompassing term created by Ted Nelson to describe any writing that is nonlinear or nonsequential space. These include texts that could be made possible through the use of multimedia, including computers (Coover 706). “Cybertext” was derived from Norbert Wiener’s work, describing a perspective that has both organic and inorganic systems. This does not limit it to strictly computer-driven texts (Aarseth 1). Furthermore, while it is clear the literary community had been grappling with different vi means of study for these types of new experimentation in literature, it is not until the late nineteen-nineties that we see the term “ergodic” emerge in literary scholarship to serve as a complete classification of this type of fiction. As Espen Aarseth defined the literature field’s use of the term “ergodic,” During the cybertextual process, the user will have effectuated a semiotic sequence, and this selective movement is a work of physical construction that various concepts of ‘reading’ do not account for. This phenomenon I call ergodic, using a term appropriated from physics that derives from the Greek words ergon and hodos, meaning ‘work’ and ‘path.’ In ergodic literature, nontrival effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text. (Aarseth 1) In this sense, as these terms display, the primary difference between ergodic and non- ergodic literature is what is expected of the reader. Ergodic literature becomes a world to be both cognitively, and, at times, physically explored. The multilayered experience the text creates for the reader is just as important as the story itself. Through an examination of how the visual, textual, and, at times, auditory aspects synthesize to convey the story, I consider the relationship between reader and text, along with how this amalgamation creates an enduring impact on the story itself. The Aim of This Study Traditionalist scholars may attempt to counter my arguments by stating that all literature can be approached differently, not just ergodic, leading to various personal interpretations. They may also argue that narrative is always being pushed further to see what it can do. However, I maintain that experimental texts are unique in themselves and consist of their own specific category in order to offer a new reading experience. While structures have been manipulated well before Sterne’s eighteenth century novel, the reading experience of ergodic literature is not strictly linear. I apply this to both the vii physical printed text and hypertexts read online. The reader chooses what order passages will be read, and what will be ignored or neglected. Yet, this is not to suggest that experimental narrative is a radically innovative move from the traditional novel. Rather, it developed from the original structures and literary writing practices, creating something new that simultaneously has a regressive and futuristic eye on the development of narrative. Although experimental literature incorporates new technological inventions, its draw from classic themes and genres keeps it grounded in literary traditions. George P. Landow once wrote on the future of narratives, “Electronic text processing marks the next major shift in information technology after the development of the printed book. It promises (or threatens) to produce effects on our culture, particularly on our literature, education, criticism and scholarship, just as radical as those produced by Guttenberg’s movable type” (Landow 19). Although I agree that the electronic medium is the natural next
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