A homecoming festival: the application of the dialogic concepts of addressivity and the awareness of participation to an aesthetics of computer-mediated textual art

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment ofthe requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)The recent history of computer-mediated textual art has witnessed a controversy surrounding the aesthetics of these texts. The practice-based research described by this thesis responds to this controversy by posing the question - Is there an aesthetic of computer-mediated textual art that can be used as the basis for a positive evaluation of contemporary practice? In exploring answers to this question, it poses three further questions that investigate the role played by materiality, participation and earlier claims for emancipation in the formation of an evaluation. This thesis develops its answer to these questions by turning first to the work of Bakhtin and the Bakhtin Circle to provide a generalised, architectonic model of meaning-making which serves as a conceptual framework for understanding computer-mediated textual art. This model describes meaning-making as a participative event between particularised individuals, which is defined, in part, by the addressivity oftheir shared utterance. This thesis then draws on the work of Ken Hirschkop to argue that the addressivity of print-mediated utterances contributed to the obscuring of participation of the reader-participant in the event of meaning-making during the period ofthe national culture of print. It also argues that this obscuring of participation had an effect on the development of democratic consciousness during this period. This thesis extends the concepts of the utterance and addressivity to describe computer-mediated textual art. It describes the historical context and the variety of aesthetic interests underpinning contemporary practice. It then argues that a sub-set of these texts exhibit a mode of addressivity that is different from the norms of the national culture of print. It draws on these differences to develop the original contribution ofthis thesis by describing an axiology (a theory of value) of computer-mediated textual art predicated on role played by their addressivity in raising awareness ofthe participation of the reader-participant in meaning-making. This thesis then illustrates the theoretical assessments derived from these questions through practice. It details the methodology employed in this research programme. It then describes the motivations for this research, the course of study, the preparatory practice and provides a social evaluation ofthe technology deployed. It argues for a 'contingent' model of practice in which the design process is framed as a reflective experiment. It then provides an analysis ofthe design process of the computer-mediated textual art work 'Homecoming' to illustrate the arguments made in thesis. This thesis concludes by placing the new axiology into the wider cultural context by arguing that it provides a valuable but non-exhaustive, nonexclusive evaluation ofthese works

Subjectivity in Young Adult Literature (Philip Pullman\u27s His Dark Materials, Marjane Satrapi\u27s Persepolis

Subjectivity is a crucial concept in children’s books and is discernible both within a particular culture and in comparison among cultures. The stories of the two novels discussed, express a quest for a sense of identity. I explored first, the images of femininity that the fictions offer, and second, the interactions between selfhood, other selves, social and cultural forces, and displacement. I limited my discussion of Bakhtinian theory to the concept of dialogism. Both novels articulate the complexity of ways in which the subjectivity of female adolescents, Lyra and Marjane, is formed in dialogue with different literary works and social discourses, assumptions and practices which constitute the cultures of East and West. Both characters are depicted as fragmented, multiple and dependent on the social discourses and practices. Pullman for the most part challenges the male’s monomythic heroic prerogative by making Lyra the world’s macrocosmic transformer and savior by the time her journey is over. Marjane also, like a traditional fairy-tale hero, prevails over her personal oppressors. Thus renewed, Marjane finally achieves a microcosmic triumph

A study of technological literacy in writing programs.

This dissertation empirically studies computer-assisted writing administration as a site of agency for social change by inquiring how writing program administrators (WPAs) use their agency and power when developing and maintaining computer-mediated spaces (CM) or computer-assisted instruction (CAI). This study asks, What are the results when individual agency meets technological literacy in the academic workplace? Numerous articles have examined WPAs as agents of social change (R. Miller, C. Selfe, M. Pemberton); few have used empirical data as their grounds. To date, no articles have examined the WPA\u27s agency with technological literacy in computer-mediated environments. This study utilizes triangulated and multi-modal research methods including site observations as well as interviews and email surveys with WPAs, students, technicians, and non-departmental stakeholders. The study assumes that WPAs act as administrative agents who use their agency to move beyond the role of functionaries such as boss compositionists (Sledd in Harris, 2000) or academic bureaucrats (R. Miller, 1988). Special features of this dissertation include original primary data on WPA decision-making, education, compensation. Preliminary data show the following: WPAs report using their agency when managing technology use for departments and institutions; 70 percent of WPAs report that their technological literacy affords them power in their departments; 70 percent of WPAs state that their technological literacy has improved their relations with students; most WPAs receive little compensation for their technological skills other than salary; and search and screen committees increasingly require technology proficiency of their writing faculty. WPAs should take into consideration managerial trends: faculty who resist CAI professional development because they are in the retirement track arguments that position CAI as a Technology vs. X false dilemma ( We can support either labor and people or technology ); assumptions that link technology with democracy and unexamined grand social narratives; and the conflation of technological literacy with critical technological literacy This data suggests that job skills and intellectual contributions of WPAs who work with CAI are not fully recognized and compensated in departments and contribute to a rise in invisible labor. The dissertation includes the following chapters: (I) Introduction: Shoulders to Stand On and the Work Already Done in Computer-Mediated Writing; (II) The Discourse on Technological Literacy: A Bakhtinian Reading of the National Infrastructure Initiative; (III) What WPAs Say about Their Work as a Site of Agency; (IV) Results from Online Survey of WPAs and Technological Literacy; and (V) Conclusion and Supplementary Materials

Little Dorrit’s Fourth Volume. Twenty-first Century Remediation of a Victorian Classic

The current interest in the Victorian period is particularly evident in the multitude of successful period dramas and cinema productions deriving their inspiration from Victorian history and culture. Dickens’s Little Dorrit, generated by the difficulties of understanding a ‘new’ world dominated by more and more complicated machines, and markets, is possibly the ideal paradigm to explore this ‘Victorianomania’ because this novel strikes us “no less forcefully today in its indictment of society's ability to destroy through greed and crushing self-interest” (Kirschner 2009).This study carries out a threefold analysis of Little Dorrit's remediation in the twenty-first century: visual remediation – Xue’s 2012 Little Dorrit; audio-visual remediation – the BBC series; and web remediation – fan fiction – in order to investigate Dickens’s appeal and longevity in contemporary media

Alfabetización del profesorado en aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por ordenador: un estudio comparativo en España e Irán

The application of technology in teacher education has received significant attention recently. It would be, somehow, impossible to deny the necessity of integrating technology in language education. The deficiency and illiteracy in delivering technology-based practices into instruction are assumed as key challenges of teachers in 21st-century education. This study aimed to explore the current level of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) literacy of language teachers in Iran and Spain. Moreover, the relationships between CALL literacy and their nationality are investigated. The study was based on a sample of 318 language teachers in Iran and Spain. Data collection was carried out through an online questionnaire. To make a sound decision, the researchers agreed to utilize the Delphi method so that appropriate experts were chosen in order to ensure a valid study. In the data analysis phase, descriptive, t-test, and one-way ANOVA analyses were performed to answer the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that there is no difference between CALL literacy of language teachers in terms of their nationality. Finally, pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are presented.La aplicación de la tecnología en la formación del profesorado ha recibido una gran atención en los últimos tiempos. Sería de todo punto imposible negar la necesidad de integrar la tecnología en la enseñanza de idiomas. La deficiencia y la falta de formación a la horade aplicar prácticas basadas en la tecnología en la enseñanza se asumen como retos clave para el profesorado en la educación del siglo XXI. El objetivo de este estudio es explorar el nivel actual de alfabetización en aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por ordenador (CALL Computer Assisted Language Learning para sus siglas en inglés) de los profesores de idiomas en Irán y España. Además, se investigan las relaciones entre la alfabetización en el aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por ordenador y su nacionalidad. El estudio se basó en una muestra de 318 profesores de idiomas de Irán y España. La recogida de datos se llevó a cabo mediante un cuestionario en línea. El método Delphi fue utilizado para validar el instrumento diseñado ad hoc, para lo que se eligieron los expertos adecuados que garantizasen la validez de este trabajo. En la fase de análisis de datos, se realizaron análisis descriptivos, pruebas t y ANOVA para responder a las preguntas de investigación planteadas. Los resultados del estudio revelaron que no hay diferencias entre la alfabetización CALL de los profesores de idiomas en función de su nacionalidad. Por último, se presentan las implicaciones pedagógicas de este estudio y recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones

Telling interactive stories: A practice-based investigation into new media interactive storytelling

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Telling Interactive Stories is a practice-based thesis, which theoretically and practically probes the field of digital fictional interactive storytelling. The submission takes the form of the interactive cinema installation Crossed Lines together with a written element of the thesis which interrogates historical, contextual, theoretical, technical and critical aspects of the field of interactive narrative using new media. Crossed Lines is an original fictional interactive AV piece, amalgamating multiform plots, a multi-screen viewing environment, an interactive interface and an interactive story navigation form. The installation tells the stories of nine characters in a way that the viewer can constantly explore and switch between all nine forms, using a telephone keypad and handset as an interface, and can simultaneously observe all characters’ presence between the nine remote locations. Several research methodologies are utilised to analyse and evaluate the installation. Quantitative methodologies include the use of user tracking systems where the computational output of the installation provides measurements and timings of user choices and behaviours. Qualitative methodologies include theoretical and visual analysis, and in depth analysis of user responses using interviews, questionnaires, video recordings and cuttingedge eye-tracking technologies

Performing selfhoods in U.S. rituals of private and public spheres

In this study, I explore four events to learn the embedded instructions of selfhood performatives in each case and how these performatives code public and private space and experience. The selected events offer a different and explicit example of private and public modes of authority and access – e.g., in the public museum experience of an exhibit by photographer Taryn Simon, in the gift of a ticket to Burning Man, womyn only at MichFest, and insider exclusivity at Roden Crater. While each event offered a different understanding of selfhood as it applied to the participant, each confirmed a selfhood performative in play through its structure, methodology, and dependence on participation. Calling on Louis Althusser’s theories of subjectivity and ideology to approach a definition for selfhood performative, ultimately I argue for a Bakhtinian use of the term. Bakhtin relies on an expansive definition where “selfhood is not a particular voice within, but a particular way of combining many voices within” (Morson and Emerson 221). This “particular way” can be understood as a conscious compositional approach to selfhood served by the performance research practice of mystory developed by Gregory Ulmer. The mystory attempts to record and articulate the relationships of the composer and her interdependent institutional and personal subjectivities through the application of the relay. Throughout the study, I make use of a literal and figurative relay between the events, composing, collecting, and documenting associations while conducting my research and drawing out the patterns and poetics therein. The purpose of the study is to show connections between selfhood performatives and commodification, and to find regularities, ironies, and pleasures between the revealed performatives and codes. I also examine how these events enhance, challenge, or stray from post-structural theories that support the interdependence between selfhood and prevailing concepts of public and private. The study also supports the application of mystory theory, with its resistance to the reproductive elements of a model, as performance research that offers an update to Brecht’s notion of theater “for an audience of the scientific age” (Brecht 185). I attempt to locate today’s audience as one situated in the tension of constructing selves between binary notions of private and public caused by the ramifications of scientific objectification and conceptual representation and reproduction. I argue the mystory is an approach to understanding the self constituted from within the interdependence of private and public relationships, and holds the unrepeatable self central to that approach