Storyland: A Place Where the Author is No More

We were told to pick an electronic text and analyze it from the view of either Hayles or Birkerts, a seemingly simple task. I started this process by looking through some electronic texts and I found that for about 99% of the texts that I looked at, I did not understand them. These texts confused me because they did not seem like actual language; what they were saying did not make sense. After looking at several texts, I chose Storyland, a rather animated text that selects random sentences according to a computer formula, and compiles them into a unique story, one that changes everytime.

Initially I thought of Storyland through Hayles’ point of view. In Writing Machines, she used the word “Creole,” which she defines as a “language compounded from English and computer code” (50); a language in which sentences are put together through formulas. She also mentioned “Neologisms,” in which random sentences are put together to form a story. Both of these concepts fit with Storyland and how the actual story is compiled. Hayles also believed that literature should be amusing and entertaining, and she most likely would embrace Storyland because of its creativity, color, and Disney-like character. The Storyland program opens by playing circus music and the letters of Storyland blinking with different colors. While Hayles would support Storyland, Birkerts would easily provide the opposing argument.

Birkerts would absolutely despise the Storyland program. Birkerts would consider Storyland to be more playing than reading and he would not consider it legitimate literature because of the probability of chance and the constantly changing story. The idea that the computer and a formula determines what sentences make up what story mirrors Birkerts’ arguement that “Hypertext gives the screen, modem, software a significant role in the writing process” (160). The computer is taking over the author’s role and therefore modifing the relation between the writer and the language.

Books and stories should be the author’s product but in Storyland, its the computer’s product. Storyland should not be considered real literature because it has no real end. There are infinite possibilities of stories, and the only reader interaction involved is starting the story program over again. Perhaps one of the main reasons, Storyland should not be considered legitimate literature is because the stories do not make sense. The sentences are randomly combined, creating a very disjointed story. Because these stories do not make sense, Storyland lacks the entertainment factor that most books would possess.

After analyzing Storyland through both authors’ perspectives, I would have to agree with Birkerts. Sure the animation of the electronic text is creative and eye-catching, but it is not literature. The stories that Storyland create are ephemeral. Once you refresh or leave the page, the story is gone and because of the random compilation, the same stoyr will never be recreated. Books are permanent and their stories live on. After you close a book, the story and the text inside still remains and to me, that is real literature.

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