Friday, November 21, 2008

In our last section, we turn to the Rothenberg and Clay anthology and read selections from among the articles. Part of the research here is to think about the history of writing and textual systems including books, reading, and writing. Another seemingly mundane aspect is to build-up a contextual interpretive web of associations for future reference. This contextual grid consists of scholars names, artworks, details, and other information. Although the official module asks that you insert some of this information into the time-line, I think it is adequate to simply insert it in your concept of the diachronic changes to the history of texts and writing. With the building of a foundation, we might also read this book about books to think about seemingly unrelated studies of the history of graphic design, tech comm, or new media studies. Those general research goals will benefit from a engagement with specific ideas and book-experiments described in the anthology, but that engagement with the most specific will ultimately lead back to a deeper appreciation of the general concepts of reading, technology, composition, communication, etc. Now those familiar terms appear strange or de-familiar viewed through the experiments described in this anthology. It might also change our thinking about books. Besides a short essay on this anthology, the module asks for a description [or for those that like to build stuff -- and there are more than a few in T&T] or an actual object -- either digitally in the computer or as a 3D book -- that you photograph. This example would demonstrate the lessons learned in this history course. A summary of texts and technology in history in the form -- not the content -- of a book. What would that look like?

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