Connecting with Text
Relating to text is a personal and cultural connection and interaction. This interaction has changed (and will continue to) according to cultural variances, but also according to what readers determine as ‘connection’. Before the press, books existed as extensions of their authors; as ‘born’ on multiple levels by their creators. Furthermore, prior to the invention of the printing press, the written word consisted of those elite classes which were both granted the means and access to materials and education which allowed them the ability to read and write. This elitist aspect of writing addresses the close connection the written word has to culture. In fact, some would argue that writing is almost entirely dependent on culture.
“The very materiality of writing binds writing firmly to human practices and therefore to cultural choices. The technical and the cultural dimensions of writing are so intimately related that it is not useful to try to separate them: together they constitute writing as a technology.” (Bolter, Chap.2, section: Writing Technologies and Material Culture).
In some aspects, it seems that writing (as a technology) is so deeply intertwined with culture that, as Bolter argues, the two cannot be separated. The invention and development or evolution of the printing press from its first conception/creation by Gutenberg, on to its eventual mass production capabilities and influence during the Revolution, does suggest evidence of culturally-determined development of the written word and the interaction between humans and text.
Before Gutenberg’s invention, writing was not only available to an elite few, but was much more personal and selective. Writing/reading before the press (such as materials/practices like the album amicorum and the commonplace book) possessed certain similarities to modern relationships and interactions with text (such as hypertext, world-wide publishing, etc.) that we have today. Both the album amicorum with its multiple authorship and the commonplace book were aspects of this interactive and personal connection with the written word and the circulation of text (Keep et al., 1995). Allowing readers to connect with poems or manuscripts and then to rewrite them for their own reference, displays a connection with text that closely resembles current reader/writer interactions found through electronic communication.
When text was no longer “handcrafted” after the invention of the press, the commonality of the written word resulted in readers becoming less selective of their reading material. Without the direct contact with creator-produced material (the book’s authors), readers lost the selective, personal, and connective elements of text between author and reader. With the press, many more options or variations besides manuscripts became available which spoke to readers about more commonplace interactions and interests, rather than religion. By losing that “hands-on” connection with writing tools and the original, embellished and extravagantly created texts, (such as Blake’s illuminated books), readers waned from their connections with a few personal readings to a wider selection, and it became more ‘quantity that quality’, diluting in a sense, selective interactions with the written word. Their are many positive aspects to wider distribution of text, most importantly, removing the elitist aspect, which outweigh the downsides of the press development. More people were involved in communicating with the world around them. These are the often discussed issues of mass production/distribution still present in current society: art versus product, quality vs quantity, personal hand-crafted vs generic and mass reproduction. In terms of text, which information from the astounding amount of data available, do we connect with? How are we filtering (or not) the information presented (and widely available) to us? That aspect (possibly biological/ neurological) of text selection is the difference between human connection and interaction with writing before the press.
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Keep, C., McLaughlin, T., & Parmar, R. (1995). The electronic labyrinth.*
Available: http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0261.html
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/
Hi Rochelle:
Thanks for offering some food for thought on how we connect culturally with text.
It seems to me that this is an iterative cycle; culture impacts processes and processes impact culture (Bolter, 2001). The printing press came about in response to a perceived need – communication methods were unreliable and slow. Word of mouth was the main vehicle for the transference of important information. Common people were unable to connect with knowledge and information in a meaningful way. The town crier was the main source of pronouncements – laws, regulations and official news were communicated through him. This, I would imagine, lead to many misinterpretation and misinformation. Think of the telephone game!
Cue the printing press. Gutenberg’s invention arrives on the scene, and addressing much of these inadequacies in communication. As we saw in Module 1, there are always opportunity costs and unanticipated consequences that a disruptive innovation brings about. Some positive, some negative, and some relative to the perceiver.
The printing press acted a catalyst for Church losing some control and power and the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution being set into motion. All of these “side effects” have had a profound effect on culture today. We now have access to literature and information that allows us to be informed citizens and to be refined learners.
The distance between author and reader was indeed magnified due to the mass production and dissemination afforded by the printing press. The advent of hypertext promises to reduce that distance as readers can seamlessly become authors as the writing space is redefined to be more transparent, immediate and interactive (Bolter, 2001).
Culture brought about the need for the printing press, and the printing press brought about a profound change in culture. Ultimately, it was a necessary adjustment in order to be able to nurture a literate society.
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.