AN EXHIBITIONIST’S PARADISE: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL IMPULSE by RONALD JEROME TULLEY Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Dr. William Siebenschuh Department of English CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY January, 2010 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the dissertation of RONALD JEROME TULLEY candidate for the Ph.D. degree *. (signed) William R. Siebenschuh Kimberly Emmons Thomas K. Fountain Todd Oakley (date) November 3, 2009 *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. 1 DEDICATION For Southsiders everywhere. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures………………………………………………………………………....4 Acknowledgments.………………………………………………………………........6 Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..9 Chapter One: Defining Western Autobiography ……………………………………..11 Chapter Two: Setting the Stage: St. Augustine and the Origins of Dialogical Self- Representation in Contemporary Autobiography…………………………………......35 Chapter Three: Technological Transformations of the Text ………………………....72 Chapter Four: Cyberpioneer: Justin Allyn Hall and the Beginnings of Online Autobiography………………………………………………………………………...102 Chapter Five: Establishing A Web Template for Self Presentation—Miles Hochstein’s “Documented Life” and Beyond……………………………………………………...127 Epilogue: Social Networking: Self Presentation in Communal Hypertext Environments…………………………………………………………………………156 Notes………………………………………………………………………………….169 Appendix A—Email Correspondence with Justin Allyn Hall………………………..180 Appendix B—Email Correspondence with Miles Hochstein………………………...185 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….190 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Axial versus network structure in hypertext.…………………………………..81 Figure 2: Christian Classics Ethereal Library: St. Augustine's Confessions homepage…93 Figure 3: New Advent: The Confessions (Book I)………………………………………97 Figure 4: Justin Allyn Hall, ca 2008……………………………………………………104 Figure 5: “Justin Links...autobio” homepage…………………………………………..108 Figure 6: Zilpha Keatley Snyder “Autobiography” (July 2007)……………………….110 Figure 7: Justin Hall’s father—Wesley Gibson Hall…………………………………..114 Figure 8: Wesley Gibson Hall’s handwritten suicide note…………………………….115 Figure 9: Arrest identification card……………………………………………………118 Figure 10: “Publish Yo’ Self”…………………………………………………………121 Figure 11: “Documented Life” homepage (July 2009)………………………………..131 Figure 12: “Documented Life” homepage—initial version (2001)…………………...136 Figure 13: “biophilia” (2009)…………………………………………………………138 Figure 14: Leora and Miles Hochstein, December 2006………………………………146 Figure 15: Hochstein Family Pictures, 2006………………………………………….148 Figure 16: Ron Tulley’s facebook “home” (a.k.a., the “news feed”) (August 2009)....160 Figure 17: Ron Tulley’s facebook “profile” (August 2009)…………………………..162 4 Figure 18: 314’s MySpace profile (August 2009)…………………………………….164 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the course of my doctoral studies at Case Western Reserve University, so many people have offered me their unconditional support. To those whom I do not directly mention here, thank you for all of your efforts on my behalf. I could not have completed this journey without you. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. William Siebenschuh (Bill). It is difficult to summarize all the ways Bill has helped me during my arduous scholarly journey at CWRU. Bill has been a mentor, advisor, father-figure, confidant, empathizer, and most importantly, a true friend. Whatever successes I have had at Case, I owe to his skillful leadership and guidance. He is a true asset to the profession and to the Case community. To Dr. Todd Oakley, a sincere thank you for guiding me through my preliminary exams and continuing to assist me as I completed my dissertation. Todd’s insightful comments helped me revise my first published scholarly essay (in 2003). His encouragement kept me going through one of the toughest moments in my life. To Dr. Kimberly Emmons (Kim)—thank you for pushing me and challenging me to see the “forest for the trees.” Kim’s supervision of my early research projects helped me to refocus and refine my methodology. Her editorial suggestions in the late stages of this project were crucial. To Dr. T. Kenny Fountain (Kenny), I offer my heartfelt appreciation for agreeing to serve on my committee after my dissertation prospectus had been approved, and I had begun to write. I could not have moved forward without Kenny’s encouragement, direction and guidance. 6 I would also like to express my gratitude to Justin Allyn Hall and Miles Hochstein for their willingness to converse with me via email on many occasions. They graciously allowed me to include their email correspondence in this dissertation (see Appendix A and Appendix B). Their online autobiographies inspired me to write this dissertation. To all the Tulleys, Serritellas, and Sauers who have kept me sane and supported me, especially Hugh and Liz Sauer (“Dad” and “Mom”) whose gracious hospitality was integral to my early doctoral studies. To all of my friends at “DOES” (the Case Western Reserve University Department of Occupational and Environmental Safety), especially Dr. David Sedwick (Doc) and Shirley Mele—thank you for your support, for your collegiality, and for providing me with a second home at Case. To all the faculty members at The University of Findlay who shared similar struggles as fellow PhD students, especially, Dr. Cheri Hampton-Farmer, Dr. Erin Laverick, Dr. Chris Denecker, Professor Nancy Munoz, Dr. Marie Louden-Hanes, Dr. Diana Montague, Professor Mary Jo Geise, and Dr. Michael Anders. Your stories encouraged me and provided me with the strength to carry the dual burden of writing a dissertation while teaching a “4/4” on the tenure track. To the brothers of Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Sigma chapter, thank you for your friendship. It is loyal and true beyond compare. OΥΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΣΠΑΣΕΙ ΗΜΑΣ. To my beautiful daughter, Devon (Peanut), may you pursue your true dreams unencumbered by the expectations of others. Let neither the envy nor the cynicism of others impede your goals. 7 To my wife, Dr. Christine E. Tulley, thank you for keeping me centered and focused through a very long process. I owe you so many weekends. Your work ethic and positivity are infectious. You are a true scholar without a hint of pretension. My deepest affection and love goes out to my mother, Deanna Tulley, who died on April 15, 2007, as I was preparing to defend my preliminary examinations. Her unwavering love, pride, and confidence in my abilities will always reassure and inspire me. 8 An Exhibitionist’s Paradise: Digital Transformations of the Autobiographical Impulse Abstract by RONALD JEROME TULLEY In this dissertation, I examine how hypertext self-life-writing approximates and simultaneously alters many conventional aspects of print autobiography. To accomplish this task, I trace Western autobiography from canonical texts including St. Augustine’s Confessions to online (digital) versions of autobiography by early “cyber-pioneers” including Justin Allyn Hall (“autobio”) and Miles Hochstein (“Documented Life: An Autodocumentary”). I conclude with a brief epilogue addressing autobiographical features present in social networking sites (e.g., facebook, MySpace, et al.). I contend that digital autobiography often reproduces the archetypal characteristics of autobiography including but not limited to a narrative structure, the inclusion of verifiable events in the subject’s life, a strong tendency towards a linear chronology, and the finite limits of what can be included within the printed text, i.e., an autobiography that ends before a subject’s life is complete. Digital self-life-writing also relies on many familiar models of identity formation witnessed in traditional autobiography: work, family, friends, personal achievement, cathartic events, etc. In this way, online versions of autobiography have 9 changed little from the textual construction of the self witnessed in traditional print autobiographies. Despite these similarities, the multimodal and interactive nature of hypertext has the potential to alter traditional modes of self-presentation in autobiography by introducing in several key effects and features including but not limited to the following: disruption of traditional narrative patterns, incorporation of reified elements (i.e., digital media including PDF documents, digital photos, audio files, streaming video, et al.) of a person(s) besides the author, introduction of divergent genres (e.g., journalistic works, media reviews, et al.), disruption of boundaries between the public and private realms of the subject, and elimination of the fixed and permanent nature of the printed text. These hypertext effects and features introduce a communal element to autobiography—a dialogue between an author and a reader that is both literal and reciprocal. As a result of the effects and features of hypertext, I contend that digital autobiography both mimics the “self-in-process” that scholars of autobiography have claimed cannot be accurately recorded in print and establishes self-life-writing, historically conceived as an individual endeavor, as a recurrent public exercise. 10 CHAPTER ONE—DEFINING WESTERN AUTOBIOGRAPHY The theory of autobiography has become very well trodden terrain. So much so, in fact, that there are now not only many theories of autobiography, but there is also a growing number of theories of those theories.