It is no question that writing has changed over the years, but what we should be asking ourselves is “why?” One thing important concept to consider is materiality, or the effect the materials used to write have on the writing itself. As the materials humans have access to change, so does the writing. As writing and its materials have changed, so have the products of literature: the library, the encyclopedia, and even the book itself.
Materiality has had a drastic effect on the content of a work in various ways, often due to the sheer difficulty of the material to use. For example, in our class we did an assignment all in crayon as opposed to a computer like we usually do. Many students found this assignment difficult because the crayon was physically taxing and more difficult to use, especially compared to the simplicity of typing on a computer. This difficulty led most of the assignments done by the class to be shorter than if it were to be done on a computer. It also gave a more informal feel to the assignment, causing many students to use a more simplistic language and some even went as far as to incorporated pictures. This is similar to the blogs we have been using. The style of writing for a blog is different than writing a formal paper. Blogs have a more informal feel as well, thus allowing more room for expression and allowing grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules to take a back seat to personality and creativity. They also encourage the use of pictures and video. The use of a technology, such as a computer, for writing has not always been around. As the materials available for writing changed throughout the years, so did the content, style and focus of the writing itself.
Writing was first done on a papyrus roll, giving a piece of writing a continuous flow with little to no closure. At this time, because a majority of the population was not educated and did not have access to such scrolls, they were more commonly used as a script for storytellers to read their content aloud. Centuries later, the papyrus roll was replaced by the codex, more similar to what we picture a book to be today. This was a bound form with pages, being less continuous than the scroll because of its limited length. As David Bolter points out in Writing Space, “A whole work could be contained in a single codex,” because it allowed for more room and was considered a more complete verbal structure (77). With the codex, silent reading and study became more popular as the codex allowed a wider access to writing and whose form was generally better received and considered more convenient. In the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts came into play and were considered by some to be “multimedia writing at its finest” (Bolter 78). They were still considered a codex, but were hand-decorated with beautiful pictures and fancy fonts and designs. This remained the only successful multimedia writing expression until technology became a usable material.
The creation of technology as a writing material has had a great effect on the writing of today. The internet has increased the accessibility of writing; today, anyone with a computer can be both a reader and a writer. The Internet acts as a gateway to the rest of the world, making it easy for anyone to digitally publish a work a via website or blog to share information or their personal thoughts and opinions with anyone in the world. Because there is no longer any standards in being a writer, the general quality of what is available to be read has decreased dramatically. Both the papyrus roll and codex were of difficult materials to come by, therefore, every piece of early writing had an important purpose as to why it needed to be shared. However, today, because it is so easy to publish writing, not only has the quality of writing go down, but the reliability of the information accessible as well.
The eBook was created to mimic the physical presence of a codex and have the exclusivity of a printed book, but with the benefits of technology. It restores the reliability and quality of literature in technology. The eBook provides similar look and feel of a book because of its size, shape and the maintained linear act of turning pages. However, its ability to be updated electronically returns it slightly to the age of the papyrus roll in diminishing its sense of closure. The eBook has many benefits. Downloaded books are significantly cheaper than physical books and there are thousands of downloaded books available for free through the library and online. They also have the practically unlimited selection of ordering online, instead of the limited selection of what is in stock at a book store, but instant access to the book instead of waiting for an ordered delivery. They are easy to carry because they are lighter than the average paperback, and can carry millions of books at once. With an eBook, anyone, especially a student, can annotate a book without causing permanent damage. EBooks are also better for the environment because they require no physical materials to create and cannot be damaged by the weather like a book that is biodegradable and can be eaten away by worms. Because of these benefits, eBook users are increasing in number and eBooks are even being used in schools as a tool for students and teachers alike. As technological materials have developed and merged with the writing world, they have changed the accessibility, format and content of the book.
The desire to make one “great book” that encompasses all knowledge, known as the encyclopedia, dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times. This is in part mostly to what Bolter said; “The encyclopedia offers a solution for both conditions for surplus and scarcity” (84). In times when books were hard to find, an encyclopedia allowed people to gain the information of many books using only one. When books were abundant, the encyclopedia acted to inform the people of what was most important and reliable to keep the public from becoming overwhelmed. However, as books multiplied and became too abundant and the general knowledge of the people increased, the goal of maintaining an encyclopedia became harder to achieve. Trying to solve this problem, Britannica turned to a different material and became the first successful digital encyclopedia (Bolter 85). This allowed the creators more room for information and more immediate access to the information searched. With this, the encyclopedia’s type of organization, both digitally and physically, shifted from that of association within elaborate “hierarchies of topic” to alphabetization (84). This allowed speedier access to information, but it no longer characterized relationships between topics. With this alphabetization came the index, showing on which page information on a selected topic can be found. This finalized the nonlinear fashion of the encyclopedia, making it one of the first and only books made to be read out of order. As technology takes over the world of books, it also changes the encyclopedia and how people find information.
When early societies began struggling with encyclopedias, many turned to libraries as their source of information. Like an encyclopedia, libraries attempted to contain the knowledge of the world. However, libraries did not bother to abridge literature to fit in a single book but acted as a building to house all books. This allowed visitors access to a wide variety of texts first hand to be used for both leisure and study. Within the library, books are sorted by genre and alphabetized within each category. Today, with the World Wide Web at our fingertips, it is as if we have complete access to both an encyclopedia and library all in one. We no longer need a building when all literature can be found online. Unlike physical books in libraries, digital books can be stored on different electronic shelves under different categories and they can be accessed instantly with the push of a button (Bolter 87). Search engines, or websites that allow you to search the internet for pages containing called for information, and hyperlinks, clickable text that takes you to another page containing information similar to that of the text, developed as navigational tools of the internet. As an encyclopedia should, the World Wide Web contains nearly all of the information in the world and can be maneuvered via search engines and hyperlinks that act as the index. By typing a key word or phrase into a search engine or clicking on a hyperlink, you instantly receive wanted information on that topic in the blink of an eye.
Writing has changed in many ways over time. From being spoken aloud, to read silently; written on a scroll, or typed on a computer; writing has become something brand new. Materiality has always been a factor, affecting the quality and content of a work. As our culture and the materials we have access to continue to change, so will our writing. In the long run, all we need to do as a culture is keep writing because after all we “are writing both in and on the world” (Bolter 97). As writing and its materials continue to change, so will its products: the library, the encyclopedia, and even the book itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment