Sep 30

What does this reading suggest for reasons why one would experiment with the shape of writing? What does the reading suggest for why people haven’t experimented much with the shapes of writing?

1.“The Greek alphabet was, in Havelocks words, the ‘first and last instrument to reproduce the range of previous orality.”

2.“That is, the Homeric epics embody in writing an-alphabetic modes of language storage.”

3.“The means of language and cultural reproduction always becomes a means of production and variance, as what is “stored” is transformed by the means of its imagined storage, so that it is a matter of morphing more than storing.”

These three quotes stuck out while reading the assigned article.

The first quote states that the alphabet, or written word, was the simply created to capture spoken words. It was used to reproduce what was said rather than give it any form of artistic meaning.

The second quote dismantles Homers epics. These were meant to be epic tales for the ages. The beauty though is not in the story but in the fact that the story was stored.

The third quote is analyzing how we store language. If you think about the different mediums that can be used for literary storage: microfilm, flash drive, computer, book, record and so on. You would have a different reaction a single work depending on which platform you chose to view it, this is what would cause the “morphing.”

So the purpose of experimental literature is not simply to challenge normative ties that go along with the written word, but to challenge how the written word is stored. The storage of the written word defines the context in which the word is viewed. This context then shapes the reader/viewers perception. This perception is what matters. If we simply produced literature in a simple linear format it would be ok, but we are not. By adding motion, color and life to the words we are giving the words its own space in the world.