{"id":7078,"date":"2006-11-14T21:40:46","date_gmt":"2006-11-14T21:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/14\/aarseth-cyberte\/"},"modified":"2006-11-14T21:40:46","modified_gmt":"2006-11-14T21:40:46","slug":"aarseth-cyberte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/14\/aarseth-cyberte\/","title":{"rendered":"Aarseth, Cybertext<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\u23f3 Approximate reading time: <\/span> 5<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>\n

Aarseth,
\n Espen J. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature<\/i>. Baltimore,
\n Md.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Aarseth’s discussion of cybertexts<\/b> or, that is, ergodic literature<\/b>
\n(ergodic from Gr., ergon<\/i><\/b> – work and hodos<\/i><\/b> – path),
\nis carried on the shoulders of an ambitious and insightful set of terms and a
\nseven-mode textonomy<\/b> for describing ergodic literature across the typical
\n(and unsuitable) poles of digital and print<\/b> for typifying texts.
\nCybertext<\/i>, then, works with examples from (literary) hypertext, video games,
\ntext adventure games, and MUDs in an effort to compel us toward a "more
\nviable terminology<\/b>" (74), while rendering productively murky many of the
\nthought-to-be-clean distinctions between texts experienced in the phosphor of
\nthe screen and those experienced on paper. The digital-paper dichotomy<\/b>,
\nhe says, suffers from limited analytical power (54). Aarseth’s project is
\nstriking for his discussion of kinds of paths<\/b>, his differentiation in
\nterms among linear<\/b>, multilinear<\/b>, and nonlinear<\/b> (3;
\nmultilinear dissolves the linear\/nonlinear commonplace (44)); unicursoral<\/b>
\nand multicursoral<\/b> (5-6); and interactivity<\/b> (48). The
\nlinearity\/nonlinearity dichotomy and discussions dependant on engulfing notions
\nof interactivity (48) are unsuitable, he argues, to the more viable terminology
\nhe seeks. He also builds on Barthes’ discussion in The Pleasure of the Text<\/i>
\nof tmesis<\/i><\/b> or skipping<\/b> in reading. Cybertext,
\nultimately, is more a perspective<\/b> than a category (24); writing as a
\ncyborg activity<\/b> increasingly reminds of the inadequacies of the
\nShannon-Weaver communication model for describing the complex, emerging dynamics
\ninvolved with cybertexts. <\/p>\n

\"Cybertext\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Aarseth’s approach emphasizes the experience<\/b> of the texts (not
\nnecessarily a hermeneutics); he views text as phenomena<\/b> rather than as a
\nstring of signifiers (20), and he reads cybertexts across their aesthetics<\/b>,
\ntheir constructions<\/b>, and their uses<\/b>. The cybertextual perspective
\nis especially useful because they merge paper and digital texts into a cohesive
\nanalytic-descriptive framework. <\/p>\n

Aarseth explains his tentative "textonomy" in terms of scriptons<\/b>,
\ntextons<\/b>, and a traversal function<\/b>. Scriptons are strings of
\nsigns (information) "as they appear to readers"; textons are strings of signs
\n"as they exist in the text"; and the traversal function is "the mechanism by
\nwhich scriptons are revealed or generated from textons and presented to the user
\nof the text" (62). Built on these neologisms, Aarseth’s seven-term typology
\nincludes the following modes of traversal (together, their variables make
\npossible 576 unique combinations or "media positions" (64):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dynamics: the fixity<\/b>, variability<\/b>, or unavailability<\/b>
    \n of scriptons;<\/li>\n
  2. Determinability: A determinate<\/b> text has the same scriptons each
    \n time; the scriptons adjacent to any other scripton vary in an indeterminate<\/b>
    \n text;<\/li>\n
  3. Transiency: The passage of time triggers the appearance of scriptons in a
    \n transient<\/b> text (alt. intransient<\/b>);<\/li>\n
  4. Perspective: If the user has a character in the world, the perspective is
    \n personal<\/b> (alt. impersonal<\/b>);<\/li>\n
  5. Access: If all scriptons are accessible at all times, as in a codex, the
    \n access is random<\/b> (alt. controlled<\/b>);<\/li>\n
  6. Linking: Explicit<\/b>, conditional<\/b>, none<\/b>; <\/li>\n
  7. User Functions: explorative<\/b> (forking), configurative<\/b> (scriptons
    \n are created or chosen), interpretive<\/b> (hermeneutic), textonic<\/b>
    \n (able to write or program–extend or change text) (63-64).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Nonlinear text<\/b>: "An object of verbal communication that is not simply
    \none fixed sequence of words may differ from reading to reading because of the
    \nshape, conventions, or mechanisms of the text" (41).
    \nText<\/b>: "Any object with the primary function to relay verbal information"
    \n(62).<\/p>\n

    Key terms: feedback loop (1), mechanical organization (1), reading (1-2),
    \nlinearity (3), cybertext (5, 17), forking paths (5), unicursal and bivia (5-6),
    \nlinear, maze, net (6), footnote (7), database (10), hypertext (12, 77),
    \ntextonomy (15), textology (15), theoretical restraint (18), technological
    \ndeterminism (19), hermeneutics (20), computer semiotics (26), artificial life
    \n(AL) (29), emergence (30), permanence\/transience (30), dual materiality<\/b>
    \n(40), nonlinear text (41), nonlinear\/multilinear (43), linear paradigm (46), RB
    \ntmesis<\/i> and skipping (47), interactivity (48), cyborg aesthetics (51),
    \nAnalytica (60), text (62), scriptons and textons (62), reader (74), network and
    \nlink (83), anamorphosis (180), metamorphosis (178).<\/p>\n

    "The concept of cybertext<\/b> focuses on the mechanical organization<\/b>
    \nof the text, by positing the intricacies of the medium<\/b> as an integral
    \npart of the literary exchange" (1).<\/p>\n

    "In a cybertext, however, the distinction [between play and performance<\/b>]
    \nis crucial–and rather different; when you read from a cybertext, you are
    \nconstantly reminded<\/b> of inaccessible strategies and paths not taken, voices
    \nnot heard" (3).<\/p>\n

    "The cybertext reader<\/b> is<\/i> a player<\/b>, a gambler<\/b>; the
    \ncybertext is<\/i> a game-world or world-game; it is possible to explore,
    \nget lost, and discover secret paths<\/b> in these texts, not metaphorically, but
    \nthrough the topological structures of the textual machinery<\/b>" (4).<\/p>\n

    "Cybertext is a perspective<\/i><\/b> on all forms of textuality<\/b>,
    \na way to expand the scope of literary studies to include phenomena that today
    \nare perceived as outside of, or marginalized by, the field of literature–or
    \neven in opposition to it, for (as I make clear later) purely extraneous reasons"
    \n(18).<\/p>\n

    "The various effects<\/b> produced by cybertextual machines are not easily
    \ndescribed by these textological epistemes<\/b> [philological,
    \nphenomenological, structural, semiotic, and poststructural], if they can be
    \ndescribed at all. I might achieve something by trying each one, but since all of
    \nthem so obviously conceive the material, historical, and textual artifact as a
    \nsyntagmatic chain of signifiers and little else<\/b>, that approach would most
    \nlikely prove fruitless and desultory, and it would almost certainly not
    \nilluminate the idiomatic aspects of ergodic texts<\/b>" (24).<\/p>\n

    "The crucial issue here [in Aarseth’s discussion of computer semiotics] is
    \nhow to view systems that feature what is known as emergent behavior<\/b>,
    \nsystems that are complex structures evolving unpredictably from an initial set
    \nof simple elements<\/b>" (29).<\/p>\n

    "When the relationship between surface sign and user<\/b> is all that
    \nmatters, the unique dual materiality<\/b> of the cybernetic sign process is
    \ndisregarded<\/b><\/i>. Without an understanding of this duality, however,
    \nanalyses of communication phenomena involving cybernetic sign production become
    \nsuperficial and incomplete<\/b>" (40).<\/p>\n

    "To construct a fundamental dichotomy<\/b> between linear<\/b> and
    \nnonlinear<\/b> types of media is therefore dangerous<\/b>; it produces blind
    \nspots even as it creates new insights" (47).<\/p>\n

    "The word interactive<\/b> operates textually rather than analytically, as
    \nit connotes various vague ideas of computer screens<\/b>, user freedom<\/b>,
    \nand personalized media<\/b>, while denoting nothing<\/b>" (48). <\/p>\n

    On cyborg<\/b>: "[Manfred] Clynes constructed the term from the words
    \ncyb<\/i>ernetic org<\/i>anism<\/b> and used it to describe the new symbiotic
    \nentity that results from the alliance between humans and technology<\/b> in a
    \nclosed, artificial environment such as a space capsule" (53).<\/p>\n

    "When I fire a virtual laser gun in a computer game such as Space Invader<\/i>,
    \nwhere, and what, am I<\/b>?" (162). ^In "The Death (and Politics) of the
    \nReader."<\/p>\n

    "Even if we can no longer use the word author<\/i><\/b> in a meaningful
    \nway (after all, today’s complex media productions are seldom, if ever, run by a
    \nsingle ‘man behind the curtain’), it would be irresponsible<\/b> to assume
    \nthat this position has simply gone away<\/b>, leaving a vacuum to be filled by
    \nthe audience<\/b>" (165).<\/p>\n

    "The ergodic work of art<\/b> is one that in a material sense includes the
    \nrules for its own use<\/b>, a work that has certain requirements built in that
    \nautomatically distinguishes between successful and unsuccessful users" (179).<\/p>\n

    "The idea of the new<\/b> is always ambiguous, and if the use of these
    \nneologisms seems contradictory and self-defeating in a study that seeks to
    \ndemonstrate the ideological forces behind similar neologisms (interactive
    \nfiction, hypertext, etc.), my only defense is that I try to make my concepts
    \nless dichotomic<\/b> and more analytic<\/b> than their alternatives" (182).<\/p>\n

    \n
    Related sources:<\/dt>\n
    Barthes, Roland. The Pleasure of the Text<\/i>. Trans. Richard Miller.
    \n New York: Hill and Wang, 1975. <\/dd>\n
    Weiner, Norbert. Cybernetics; or, Control and Communication in the
    \n Animal and the Machine<\/i>. New York: Technology Press, 1948.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u23f3 Approximate reading time: <\/span> 5<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>Aarseth, Espen J. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174],"tags":[699,444,1626,913,935,1083,936,423,520,987,1627,582,1628,1606,1629,937,349,1630,652,1169,724,1069,478,1631,1097,257,1632,356,1633,1634,327,1635,1636,187,1618,443,1637,1638,446,1639,1321],"class_list":["post-7078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing_technol","tag-action","tag-aesthetics","tag-al","tag-author","tag-computers","tag-cybertext","tag-cyborg","tag-database","tag-digital","tag-emergence","tag-ergodic","tag-games","tag-handling","tag-hermeneutics","tag-hodos","tag-hypertext","tag-influence","tag-interactivity","tag-labyrinth","tag-linearity","tag-link","tag-literature","tag-media","tag-multicursal","tag-multilinear","tag-networks","tag-nonlinear","tag-paths","tag-permanence","tag-pleasure","tag-reading","tag-semiotics","tag-taxonomy","tag-technology","tag-terms","tag-text","tag-textonomy","tag-transience","tag-typology","tag-unicursal","tag-user"],"yoast_head":"\nAarseth, Cybertext - Earth Wide Moth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/14\/aarseth-cyberte\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aarseth, Cybertext - Earth Wide Moth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u23f3 Approximate reading time: 5 minsAarseth, Espen J. 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Do research designs do more than install (strict or suggestive and flexible) rails for procedural fidelity? How much of what shows up later in a methods section is accountable to planning versus zig-zagged\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Methods"","block_context":{"text":"Methods","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/method\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6448,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2005\/11\/10\/talks\/","url_meta":{"origin":7078,"position":2},"title":"Talks","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"November 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Before a full week cycles around, I wanted to tack up a few notes about the Digital and Visual Rhetorics Symposium hosted at SU last Thursday and Friday.\u00a0 Each of the talks was stimulating\/evocative; w\/ these notes: I'm going for a patchwork of what was said and what it got\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Orange"","block_context":{"text":"Orange","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/orange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7076,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/11\/wysocki-impossi\/","url_meta":{"origin":7078,"position":3},"title":"Wysocki, “Impossibly Distinct”","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"November 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Wysocki, Anne. \"Impossibly Distinct: On Form\/Content and Word\/Image in Two Pieces of Computer-based Interactive Media.\" Computers and Composition 18 (2001) 137-162. \"Impossibly Distinct\" counters the commonplaces of the form\/content, information\/design, and word\/image dichotomies. 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McComiskey's introduction includes a section called \"The Problem of Specialization,\" in which he explains Stephen North's three responses to specialization before proposing his own solution: integration. North divided\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reading Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Reading Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/reading_notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7095,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/09\/lauer-heuristic\/","url_meta":{"origin":7078,"position":5},"title":"Lauer, "Heuristics and Composition"","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"June 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Lauer, Janice. \"Heuristics and Composition.\" CCC 21.5 (1970): 396-404. Lauer formulates a centrifugal gesture, urging compositionists to turn to psychology and other fields presently discussing invention in such a way that would aid in \"the creation of a potent contemporary rhetoric\" (397). At just four pages with an eight-page bibliography,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dissertation"","block_context":{"text":"Dissertation","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/dissertation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}