Writing and the machine: perspectives from cybertexts

Abstract

Electronic literature is one of many sites in which the digital humanities may be seen at work. This paper examines two modalities of electronic literature: John Cayley’s “morphing series” and Poetry Vending Machine from the Taipei Poetry Festival. In each case it focuses on the relation between text and reader, specifically on the ways in which the reader interacts with the materiality and technology of the literary artifact. The paper argues that the outcome of the hybridization between technology and writing is the digital cybertext, which turns readers into users and players, and reading into an embodied, participatory event.

電子文學是數位人文的其中一種呈現形式。本文選擇約翰•凱利的「漸變系 列」及臺北詩歌節推出的「詩的自動販賣機」作為討論對象，探討文本和讀者之 間的關係，特別針對讀者與文學作品之物質性及科技元素的互動作深入討論，進 而提出，數位制動文本是科技和寫作的交互成果，此類書寫讓讀者轉為文本的「使 用者」及「玩家」，使其寓身體及感官於閱讀之中。