Eward2's Blog

“My Body-a Wunderkammer”, is a hypertext by Shelley Jackson that pushes the reader to interact and choose where they want the story to take them. The text starts out with a sketch of Jackson’s body with links on different body parts. Depending on which the reader chooses first will decide what story you will read first. All of the stories talk about Jackson’s particular body part and certain stories about growing up and into her body. That story takes you to another body part and so on until the reader is finished. Electronic text, especially this one, push the reader to interact more than just mentally. This text in particular asks the reader to choose where he or she wants to go from the starting point. The hyperlinked words will lead them to another body part story and they must make the decision; almost like an investigation. Sven Birkerts would probably not like this text because the navigation has more options and isn’t quite as simple as the turn of a page. The story can change at any moment. He would probably argue that the impersonal nature of the medium doesn’t allow for the private reading he has deemed so important. Maybe Birkerts is right in his belief that the experience of reading is very important; that curling up on a chair with a good book, not a computer, can be nostalgic. However, as right as he may be, I don’t believe that the  medium can take away from the meaning of the text. I was able, even though I was reading from a computer screen, to relate to Jackson’s stories about learning and growing into herself. The stories became close to me and I began to feel like I understood her and knew about her life personally. The way the writer chooses to put together their story and they way they write has more of an impact on the text than the medium. I became more personally involved in this electronic text than I have while reading some classic novels and I believe that in the end, Birkerts would understand and even soften his heart towards this new age.