Jackson/Hypertext Blog

                After exploring many different types of electronic literature, I have come to find that hypertext literature is the most easily relatable to those who are used to “regular” literature. Steve Ersinghaus, in his article “Reading Hypertext: Reading Blue Hyacinth,” seems to be of the same opinion. He explains that exploring hypertext is analogous to exploring a new city. First there is the impulse or drive to explore which pushes a person to discover all that they can about this foreign entity. This impulse is necessary for both hypertext and a new city because if there is no desire to explore and discover then a person will not try to learn all that they can and the experience will not be as fulfilling since its potential will not be realized. Ersinghaus furthers his analogy by explaining that a person must pay closer attention than they would to something familiar. In either a new city or a hypertext, a person will have to take note of something that they would not bother to take note of in his or her hometown or in a type of literature that he or she is used to, and this is simply because he or she would have already taken note of it in his or her earlier explorations of those familiarities so there is no point in doing so again.

The point that Ersinghaus makes that leads me to believe he agrees with my opinion that hypertext is the most easily relatable type of electronic literature is the final part of his analogy. He argues that in exploring either a hypertext or a new city a person uses his or her previous experience to make this new discovery easier. By being familiar with the commonalities that all cities or all hypertexts have, it makes the exploration of this new city or new hypertext less confusing and more enjoyable. Hypertext is the most relatable because it is the type of electronic literature that connects most with a reader’s previous experience with “normal” literature. Both types of literature may have any or all of the following similarities: characters, plot (including rising action, climax, falling action, etc.), setting, paragraph formats, dialogue, descriptive details, and other standard characteristics. Therefore, I believe a new reader of electronic literature would be able to more fully connect with or relate to hypertext literature than any other type that I have explored.

                One piece of hypertext narrative that I feel coincides with the previously stated argument is Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson. Patchwork Girl is a modern, hypertext adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Essentially, it is about a “monster” that is made up of different parts of others, just like the monster Frankenstein is made up of various parts of different dead people. There are major differences between the two, however. Frankenstein is male while Patchwork girl is female, and Frankenstein was made up of only human parts, where Patchwork girl also has animal parts, like cow intestines.

There are multiple narrators in this text, as the title page suggests. The story is told alternately by Mary Shelly, Shelley Jackson and Patchwork Girl.

Mary Shelly tells the tale as the creator of patchwork girl – she is the one who took all of these different parts and sewed them together. Shelley Jackson tells the tale as an omniscient narrator, commenting on both the story and the vehicle through which the story is told – hypertext. Patchwork Girl tells the tale, obviously, as the main character narrator, bringing the reader along with her on her journey for self-discovery and self-identity. There is one more creator of this story that is not named in the title page – the reader. Since this is a hypertext narrative, the decisions that the reader makes while reading shape how the story unfolds. Depending on what links are clicked and when, the way the story develops is different for everyone, and therefore the experience of the story is different for everyone. This is an integral part of any hypertext literature, and in this case it connects the theme of the narrative to its structure or form.

                Patchwork Girl is about self-identity. Patchwork girl is trying to find who she is and how she fits in with the rest of the world, a task that is much more difficult for her because she is so much different than anyone else. She is trying to reconcile all the separate parts that make up who she is and form a single identity. This is a reflection of the hypertext form of the narrative, and the structure is a mirror of the structure of Patchwork girl’s body and purpose. Patchwork girl is made up of so many different parts, just like a hypertext, and these parts are woven together to form a cohesive whole, again like hypertext. It has to be decided how all of these apparently separate parts work with and relate to each other and make up something bigger than the individual aspects. The form also reflects the theme through the reader. The reader has to make all these connections between the different lexia of the hypertext and interpret the different sections, both individually and in how they create a whole, coherent story.

                There are different critical lenses through which to analyze Patchwork Girl, just like with any other type of “regular” literature. For example, it is possible to read Patchwork Girl from a feminist perspective and discover many different facets that a surface reading might not manifest. It is interesting to note that the “monstrous” body, the person searching for self-identity in this narrative, is a woman. This ties into a feminist reading of the text because it shows how the image of women is not as concrete as that of men. In other words, women are more likely to struggle with their identity and place in the world because their standing in society is much more tentative. The physical image of a woman is important to society as well. Patchwork girl is really big and has severe scarring all over her body from where she was sewed together. These characteristics are not considered feminine, and therefore she herself is considered unfeminine in the eyes of society. This attributed masculinity makes others feel that she is not beautiful, in the traditional sense of the word, since beauty is typically an effeminate quality. So because Patchwork Girl does not fit the cultural expectations of femininity and female beauty, she is considered to be less of a woman. Continuing in this feminist light, it is also possible to explore the perspective through the narrator of Mary Shelly. At one point she talks about how in exchanging a piece of herself with Patchwork girl she must find a spot that her husband will not miss.

This shows that her husband has a certain amount of control over her actions and her body. She does not have complete agency as she must take into consideration her husband’s preferences.

                Patchwork girl, as previously explained, is a piece of hypertext narrative that supports the belief that hypertext is the most relatable type of electronic literature. Like a “normal” piece of literature, it has standard characteristics of narrative and standard literary devices. The story has plot, dialogue, setting, characters, metaphors, theme, detailed descriptions, figurative language, and many other characteristics that together form a traditionally “good” piece of literature. These characteristics connect with the form or structure of the piece as a hypertext narrative. Taking all of these aspects into account, Patchwork Girl can be seen as an effective piece of literature, both as a traditional text and as a hypertext. This effectiveness in both fields proves that hypertext and "regular" text are easily relatable genres of literature, and that aspects of each can connect with the other, making the transition from “normal” literature to electronic literature less discombobulating and more enjoyable.