ETEC540: Text Technologies

I consider the folowing, the “ultimate text” simply for the fact that I quickly realised that writing is a technology that starts in our minds and finds representation in a form that consumers can relate to. The following text was sent to me as email. I do not actually know the origin. I was shocked to realise that it really didn’t matter how  the letters are placed as long as the first and last letters are right. It made me ask the questions, how do we consume text? How do we appreciate text? Do we actually read familiar text out of memory?

if yuo can raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid, too.
Can you raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

Socrates, Shakespeare, Saint Paul, Rembrandt, Galileo, Darwin, Beethoven, Maria Montessori, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and John Dewey are all dead. We remember them because their words and works were preserved for later generations by means of different text technologies. Texts are material artifacts that take many different forms: cave paintings, tattoos, stone tablets, papyrus scrolls, manuscript books, musical scores, maps, printed books, engravings, newspapers, photographs, films, DVDs, computers. Every kind of text is produced by a special technology, which shares a simple purpose: they were designed to supplement the fragile human mind by providing a more durable artificial memory system. Those technologically preserved and transmitted memories are the foundation of all human culture.

Technologies are not limited to nations or languages: they invade and transform cultures. The Hebrew and Greek Bible, the literary and philosophical masterpieces of classical antiquity, influenced readers thousands of years and thousands of miles away from the time and place when they were first written down.

The Alphabet Song

I used to think that text has to be written. However, the course reading has changed my perception of what it is. Text embeds meanings; the process of forming text, whether it’s spoken, written, or even sung, is a process of creation. The process of putting it down, regardless of the medium, helps create a record, which allows the meaning or information to be communicated.

¿ʞuıɥʇ noʎ ʎɐʍ ǝɥʇ ǝƃuǝllɐɥɔ uʍop ǝpısdn sıɥʇ ƃuıpɐǝɹ sǝop

Does reading this upside down challenge the way you think?

The context in which I’m endeavoring to define and understand text focuses on a marginalized segment of our community: those who suffer from mental health issues and live in the shadows due to the insurmountable stigma attached to a disease which, for the most part, is invisible.

Consider the following words related to mental illness and the emotions they bring up:

CRAZY – PSYCHO – MENTAL – SCHIZO – WACKO

What came up for you? Humor, disgust, pity, fear, sadness? To me they evoke dynamic sound through written word. Working in the mental health arena, I am extremely sensitive to the negative impact they can have when used carelessly and with lack of regard. From this perspective the way in which text is used presents a relevant, and perhaps necessary, starting place for a discussion around the issues those living with mental illness are faced with. Ong refers to text as being “…the reduction of dynamic sound to quiescent space”. (ETEC540 Prefatory Materials) It is in the shadows of quiescent space that mental illness resides and given the existing stigma at this point, perhaps a quiet place is a safe location in which to initiate discussions that will begin to break this stigma down.

“TEXT is a coherent set of symbols that transmits some kind of informative message.” (Wikipedia) Text is a body of language and can be either written or spoken. It can build from a word on a surface right up to a complete book. It is the receiver who will determine his/her reaction depending on their frame of reference. (UsingEnglish.com) Considering the ‘coherent set of symbols’, text for my purposes can be pushed further; text can be used not just as symbols but to symbolically challenge the community at large in terms of how they see, or don’t see, those who are marginalized and live within the shadows of mental illness.

Our thoughts are based on our experiences, which then determine how we communicate and interact. Text as a communication tool can be used to challenge the way people think and respond; in this case towards the issues of mental health. My journey throughout this course is to examine ways in which text and technology can be used to create a paradigm shift – to literally and figuratively turn it all upside down!

I seek to examine the impact of text on my ability to effectively communicate with the community at large so that those who struggle with mental health issues can be seen and understood, and those with the means to provide funding understand the necessity to make the invisible visible.

Text is letters, symbols and characters recorded on any type of media that may include paper, computer screens, stones, papyrus, art canvas and much more. Further, text conveys information and is the written form of communication. It is intertwined with technology as we use technology (be it email, paper, text messages ect.) communicate at a rapid pace.

I chose this image because it is such an interesting way to display text. I know my students would be engaged by this piece. To me, it’s a perfect example of the changing spaces and fluidity of text.