A Theory of Text Technologies: A Digital Portfolio
Variations of textuality and materiality are elements of text technologies that can help transcend a piece of text or technology into something of great meaning. It allows for the reading of objects that people may not have considered to read or understand otherwise. The potential to create meaning through different text technologies is influenced by the different ways that people interact with the world. As different elements of text technologies were explored through the different textual practices explored in this portfolio, a theory of text technologies was formed. A theory of text technology that encourages change, should highlight the consideration of historical and cultural context, identity and care to reveal how people may be influenced to create and understand meaning of text technologies.
A central component to the unraveling of meaning of text technologies, includes the consideration of historical and cultural context (how elements from the past and society influence the present). Context is needed to consider important questions of why was the text technology created? Who was it created by and who was it intended for? The need for context to form meaning about different forms of text technologies can also be considered when thinking about the materials needed. Where and how did the materials come to be, are they accessible, and is it ethical to use? These questions encourage people to consider the importance of sustainability in text technologies, as well as the audience of who is being centered.
As historical context is considered to understand text technologies, the objects that were observed throughout the semester came to manifest as artifacts. (Gitelman, 2008) As objects to be archived and studied for their role in past, present and future understandings. Jessica Brantley’s article. “Medieval Remediations” mentioned how media cannot be detached from history and how different media forms can engage and influence each other. (2013, p. 201). Something important that she notes, is that “we should not separate medium from meaning, that it is in fact impossible to talk about meaning without taking medium into account. Accordingly, it is experiments remediation—whether through the printing press or myriad other technologies—that both reflect and bring forth a consciousness of medium as such.” (p. 206) In thinking about the importance of history and meaning making, something interesting that she brought up was the idea of a “post medium condition” which considers how “medium can be a form of remembering.” (p. 215) These considerations of how media engage with eachother, reveal why context is important, to understand why transitions of new media exist, what was taken from their predecessor, what changed, and what limitations still exist. For example the printing press was an incredible creation that acted as an “agent of change”. (Eisenstein, 1980, n.p.) But the efforts to make print accessible didn’t stop there, people continued to think of ways to allow more people to interact with the creations made.
In my theory of text technologies I am led by a feminist framework that I carry in all areas of my life personally, politically, and academically. I particularly consider Black feminist thought, standpoint and intersectional theory. (Cho, Crenshaw, McKall, 2013) In this framework of viewing the world and the texts technologies that I engage with, I consider the epistemic advantage in my view of these things as a Black woman. (Narayan, 2004) A consideration of consciousness is also acknowledged in my social position of privilege as an English graduate student. (Collins, 2000) In continually thinking about how my identity influences my theory of text technologies, I consider Olivas’ article “The Three R’s of Writing Identity: Recognition, Representation, and Reinvestment”, in which she said that,
“we should encourage our students to analyze their own identities in relation to the rest of humanity and teach students that writing and identity are intertwined. We should give our students permission to use writing as a way of critically analyzing what they know to be true of the world. More importantly we should teach our students to critically analyze how they came to know what they know to be true of the world. Because the only way for any of us to change our worldview is for us to see that it needs to be changed. We need to know where our worldviews came from so we can decide we want to live there.” (2016, n.p.)
While this quote may center on student writing, it also seems applicable to the exploration of text technologies as we try to create meaning. The considerations of what is a teachable text seems quite static (outside of the Humanities), but the application of using different text technologies allows for people to expand what they know to be true, allowing people to form different connections to contribute their own texts.
My desire to work out of this framework is necessary to my work, but also towards my survival as I put some of the textual practices learned into my “feminist survival tool kit”, which are the items that we need to continue to push us forward in the world and continue to do our work.(Ahmed, 2017, n.p.) In connecting this work to survival, I think it is a central component to think about care in a theory of text technologies. Care in this sense is built out of feminist care ethics. (Robinson, 2011) This creates a system “where our moral selves emerge through our relations of responsibility and care for particular others – leads to a very different understanding” of text technologies. (p. 847)
As care is considered in this theory, I ponder the question, “How should we demonstrate value for the work performed by Black women and other women of color, considering their history with capitalistic exploitation?” (Caldera, 2021, p. 711) This question is influenced by the article from class discussion, Lisa Nakamura’s article “Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture”.(2014) In Nakamura’s article they talk about how Navajo women were exploited for their labor to create circuits. To consider care in text technologies also means an encouragement of cultural competency that allows for listening and an intake of context. (Black, 2005)
The elements of context and care suggest that text technologies are something that can be built from, or foster community. As text technologies evolve, they are often driven by the desire to share narratives that were previously being left out. For example, this can be viewed in text technologies like Twine. Twine, “an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories. It allows users to create a visual novel or other video games through its story builder. The program uses a story builder interface and requires users to learn basic coding to create pathways.” (Miessler, 2024) What makes this text technology appealing is that it creates an area to share the narratives and stories that we feel like we can’t express in our daily lives. And while community isn’t fostered directly on the website or app, the site shares ways for people to share and connect (if they desire to). Text technologies that consider care encourage potential to collaborate. Collaboration allows for multiple demographics to consider the means of production and use of that specific text technology, that hopefully encourages open discourse on the matter.
A theory of text technologies that considers context, identity, survival and care is a way to dream for the future. It means considering ways for more accessibility for marginalized voices to interact. This theory of text technologies encourages collaboration as we stand under discourse about text technologies and listen to the ideas and practices of others. As the world continues to evolve, text technologies must also evolve to fit the needs of people. On the syllabus for this course (English 701/801 Texts Technologies) a quote was shared early on in the semester from Marshall McLuhan, it said that “media history is not a progress story–or a story of a decline of civilizations–but is continuously written anew and branded by discontinuities”. (1964) This quote continues to influence my consideration of text technologies even as I reflect over this class. As text technologies continue to evolve and are written anew, it can be done with a mindset of care to foster in something new in our communities.
This theory of text technologies is applied through the exploration of different textual practices shown in this digital portfolio. These practices were influenced by textual analysis of class material and class discourse led by the students of the class. In the “Blog” tab, a collection of posts can be found that share images and comments of different textual practices.
Ahmed, S. (2016). Living a Feminist Life. North Carolina: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373377
Black, R. M. (2005). Intersections of care: An analysis of culturally competent care, client centered care, and the feminist ethic of care. Work (Reading, Mass.), 24(4), 409–422. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-2005-00440
Brantley, J. (2013) “Medieval Remediations.” Comparative Textual Media, ed. N. Katherine Hayles and Jessica Pressman, 201-20. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Caldera. (2021). Challenging Capitalistic Exploitation: A Black Feminist/Womanist Commentary on Work and Self-Care. Feminist Studies, 46(3), 707. https://doi.org/10.15767/feministstudies.46.3.0707
Eisenstein, E. L. (1980). The printing press as an agent of change : communications and cultural transformations in early modern Europe, volumes I and II. Cambridge University Press.
Gitelman, L. (2006). Always already new : media, history and the data of culture(1st paperback ed). MIT.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media the extensions of man ([1st ed.].). McGraw-Hill.
Miessler, R.C. (2024). Twine. Digital Humanities Toolkit, WordPress. https://dh.sites.gettysburg.edu/toolkit/tools/twine/
Nakamura, L. (2014). Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture. American Quarterly, 66, 919 – 941.
Olivas, B. (2016) “The Three R’s of Writing Identity: Recognition, Representation, and Reinvestment.” English @ SLCC.
Patricia, H. C. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Rev. 10th anniversary ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203900055Robinson, F. (2011). Stop Talking and Listen: Discourse Ethics and Feminist Care Ethics in International Political Theory. Millennium, 39(3), 845–860. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829811401176