Towards the Recognition of the Shell as an Integral Part of

Towardsthe Recognitionof the Shellas an IntegralPart of
the DigitalText
Attju Ruu
Department
of English/American
Studies
Johannes
Gutcnberg-Universit:it
Mainz
Elsa-Brandstront-Str.
l0/ l0l 14,-5-5
124Mainz,Germany
Tel: +49 613l-689751
E-mail: raua000
@rrail.uni-rnainz.de
thesetextsi s vi tal t0 and often al so part of the "r nain"t ext
presented
within the Reader.Interpretations
of digital fiction
otien disrnissthe Shell (the Readerand the additionaltexts)
as external to the text and secondaryto their analyses.
However,rnanywritersof hyperfictionblurr the boundaries
of " mai n"and " subsi di ary"
text.
ABSTRACT
Althoughthe theoryof hypertextfiction doesnot regardthe
Shellas a text, writersof digital fiction, have long startedto
blurr the boundariesbetweenthe Readerand the "rnain"
text. Both interpreters of (fictional) hypertexts ancl
pfograrnrners of
hypertext-environments neecl to
acknowledgethis fact in order to acconrodatecurrent
wl i t ingpr ac t ic es .
'l'he up-and-corning"electronicbook" that loads diffbrent
texts into one and the same piece of hardwaremay rnake
sofiware-Readers
This, however,would make
dispensable.
necessary
the establishment
of a standardin which all texts
destinedfor a certainmachinewould have to be markedup,
so that a) a text createdtbr use on one system would be
illegible on other systemsthat do not confbrm to these
standards,
and b) every new approachto textuality(like the
stepfrom text to hypertext)would call fbr new hardware.In
order to keep hypertext systemstlexible, designerswill
probably stick with the Reader-approachinstead of
lralclwiringtlreirsolutiorts.
KEY W O RDS :digi ta l l i te ra tu re , h y p e rfi c ti o n ,c ornputer
paratext
nretatext.
-garnes,
TEX TA ND CA RRI E R
In the rare cases where it considers the carriers ancl
supplernents
of a digital text at all, the theory of literary
wrrtin-u
in hypertextsuggeststhat the readingenvironnrent
(the"Reader")constitutes
a metatextto the nraintext.In this
view.the Readeris a text that has to be reador decipherecl
bevol the "actual" text can be read. Hypertextreading is
supposed
to be nreta-reading
becausethe physicalstlucture
w i th th e te x t.Wh i l e t hi svi ew
o f th et ex thast o be re a da l o n -g
stretches
thc clefinitionof the terrn"nletatext",it paystrl reacl
thesurroundings
of the digitaltext us tcxts.
SOF T W A REV- E RS U SH A R D WA R E -AP PR O A CH
A tex t in a digita l e n v i ro n me n tc a n n o t e x i s t w i thout
ernbeddingin representations
ol' a paper-text'snraterial
carrier(unlessthe text conresas a batch prograrnrnthat
scrollsdown in fiont of the readers'eyesrnuchIike a videofi l m ) . E v en non- h y p e rte x tu a sl ,tri c tl y l i n e a r, read-onl y
writinghasto otler the leadera way to "turn the page"- be
Accordingly,nrole
it l scrollbarol back/fbrward-buttons.
interactions
with the text, like thoseof'fbredby
sophisticated
hypertext. call tbr a Inore sophisticated reading
e n v ir onr nentT. hes e e n v i ro n n re n tsa re u s u a l l y cal l ed
"Readers".
Otlline digitalhypertiction(anclI usethis term in
its broadestpossiblerneaning)alsclusually conreswith a
nuntberol' supportingrnateriarls,
both digital ancl paper'The
infbrmation
contained
in
basccl.
I ' er n r i s s i otno r r a k e t l i g ita l o r h u r tico p ics( ) l' a llo r ]) i.l1o1l' tltis wotk l i rt'
t p lo vitlctlth lt copi cs
per s o n aol r c l a s s r o u nur sc is g r ln tctl u ' ilh o L rIcc
a d !illlllg c arl (ith:]t
arcn o t m a d co r d i s t r i h u tcdtill p r o lit o l co tr r n lcr ciitl
c rlr i c sb e a l t h i s n o t i c ea n tl th c tL ll cita titttto ll th e lilst p a g c. Ii r copv
( ) l lo r ctlisltib lttcto ltsts.
olh c r \ i b e .t o r e t ; u h l i s h,lo p o sl ( ) n scl- \' cls
lc q u i l c sp r i o r s p e c i l i cpcn r r issio nu tltl o r r ltt.
Hyp e r t c r t 9 9 D a r n r s tr d t ( icr tn a n v
METATEXTOR PARATEXT
The internationalsoftware market has establishedcertairr
conventi onsof i nterfacedesi gn that al l ow tbr "int uit ive
understanding".Still, the buttons and icons have to be
"r'ead",decipheredand understoodbefbre the "actual" text
can be read. In the case of hypertext,links can hardly be
separated
liorn the text-to-be-read.
Like any other sign in a
text.a link signifies.However,as RainerKuhlenhaspointed
out, a l i nk, unl i ke other semi oti csi gns.poi ntsto an act ual
entity, not merely ref'erringto it, but at the same time
realizing it. I I I Furthermore,hypertextasks the readel to
activatelinks accordingto patternsof rneaningthe reader
establishes
or retraceswithin the text. Thus, the readerreads
the text of the textblocks.but she also readsthe text of the
link-structureand assernblesthe flnal text tiorn both of
them. while the link-structuredescribesthe text on a level
besidesthat of content.In this sense,the text-infbrrning
structureof a digital text and its readingenvironmentfirrnr
the inherentnretatextof everydigitaltext.
However,Readersin generaldo not only carry navigationtools,but othertexts,nruchlike the paratextsGdrardCenette
desclibesfirr paper text [2]. While a metatext is u text
(within a text) that describesthe "main" text, paratextsare
all thosetexts "outside"a text that ret'erand belong to this
text - forewords,reviews,advertisements,
interviews.For
00
Co p y r i g hA
t C M 1 9 9 9 l - 5 8 1 l3 - 0 6 4 - - l/9 9 /2 ...S5
u9
( l rgit ill texts, the se in cu lde Help- Files , Relc l M e Fir s t s ,
I r rstullalio n Cu ide s a nd ot her c loc ur nent s .bot lr in digi t a l
tirr-rnunrl on papcr. In sornc cases. tlte cli.uitalparatext lnay
c olrcsponclirrrnrcclia tclyto a par at ex ton papc r .
blurring of bounclariespart of the story he lras to tell.
Discworld - Shifting Locations
The Aclventure C'iarnel)i.st'w,rtrLd
[7]. firr exanrple. shilts not
o n l y t h e c o n t e n t o r t h e l 'u n c t i o n ,b u t t h e l r h y s i c a l l o c a t io n o l '
o n c i t i t s p a r a t e x t s i n t o t h c " r n a i n " t e x t . T h e L t t g g u g c i s tr
chlracter fronr l-erry Pratchett's 1)i,s<'n,r,,r/r1-noi.'els
the
conlputcr garnc serics is based on. Its capability to carry
i t c r n s c o r n e s i n h a n d y i n t h c c o n t e x t o f t h e c o n r p u t e rg a r n e :
n'rost Aclvcnturc Garncs base their ridclles on findin.u and
colnbining objects. Once tbund. the ob.jectsare stored in an
i n v e n t o r y u n t i l t h e y c a n b e u s c d . 'l 'h i s
i n v c n t ( ) r 'y i s
c o r r v c n t i o n a l l y l o c a t e d i n t h e r l e n u o r t o o l b a r . I n th e
Di.solorld series. lrowever. it is fusecl with tlle cllaractcf
Lrtg,gugc.
TH E S H E L L
I nstcaclof clisle sa r.din glhe paper and c ligit al s upplenr ent so l '
c l ir: ital te rts (a s. tirr exar nple, Es pen Aar s et h does i n
C.t'lttrtc.rtl3l). I propose to inclucleboth the Reader (anclthe
i nlirlrnat ion con tain eclin i t ) anc lt he adc lit ionalr nat er ialsin a
c lt e_goryI call "Sh ell". Thc ir npolt anc e of t he Sir ell lbl t h c
i ntcr' pretatio nof d igita l fict ional t ex t , t hen, c lc r iv esf iont t h e
l l r ct t hat th c in forrn atio n c ont ainet l in it is not alwa y s
s ubsirlinr l lo th e "rru rin" t ex 1.Rat her . t hc linc s bet r v c ent e x t
l rrrl S hell blu rr in Iryp crte x tand t his s lr ift ing of bounc lar ic si s
c nrplovcd u s li tcxtua l stfa t egy lr v h1' peric
l ion aut hor s .
S HI F T S IN HYPERFICTIO NS
Afternoon - Overlapping Contents
Mrclrael .foyce's hyperfiction classic Alicnrootr - A Storl [.11.
l i r l exanip le, corn es with a book let c ont aining, ar nong ot h e r
p icces of in firrnra tron ,in s t allat ionand nav igat ion guidelt n c s .
This irrf orn ratio nap pcarsa gain in t he "r nain" t ex t . blanc hi n g
o lf llonr t he sta fting pa ge on e( lual gr ounds wit h t he "s t or y " .
I n luct . f r o rn th c cig ht link s leav ing "s t ar t " only t wo le a c l
t l irect li, into th c story. o nc y ielc is t o c r it ic al t hought s abo u t
h y pcrtcxt an cl "h elp " in f ir lr nalion and t he r es t c all u p
e xtencledc op yrig ht intirn nat ion. y et anot her par at ex t t hat i s
n ot ent ire ly sep ara ble liom t he "nr ain" t ex t in t he c ligi t a l
'f h i s i s n o t o r r l v a n c l c g a n t s o l u t i o n f i r r t h e i n t e r 'f i r c e( th c
p l a y c r n o l o n g c r h a s t o l c a v c t h c g a r n e - w i n d o w i n u r t le r to
a c c e s ss t o r e d o b e j c t s ) . I t a l s o c o n i b i n e s t h e p l a y - l e v e l w i th
the settings-levelin a way that could bc nraclesignificant tirr
the garrre.I)ist'n'orld does not rnirror the text/carrier'-shiftorr
t h e l e v e l o f s t o r y . O n e c o u l d , h o w e v e r , i n r a g i n e g a r n es th a t
d o - t h e a b s e n c e o f a c t u a l r e a l i z a t i o n s d o e s n o t t l e n v th e
p o s s i b i l i t i e so f c o l l a p s i n g t o o l s a n c ln a r r a l i o n .
THE SHELL AS TEXT
O b v i o u s l y , t h e c o n c e p ( o f t h e " i n h c l e n t r n e t a t e x t "c l e scr i b e s
only part of the efiect the reading environnrenl has lirr the
digital text. The concept of the para- and also the lnetatext as
texts of their own and the recognition of the irnportance
these contexts bear firr the "rnain" text rlray bc bctter suitcrl
t o d o . j u s t i c e t o t h e c l i g i t a l t e x t . D i g i t a l ( a n d l r y p e r - ) fi cti o n
lvriting no longcr adhers to the clear clistrnction betwecn
" c o n t e n t " - t e x t a n d c a r r i e r a n d t h i s p r a c t i c e , a s i t e s t a b l i sh e s
itself. rnay well spread to infbrrnation hypertexl wrrting.
I n t e r p r e t e r so f d i g i t a l f i c t i o n d o w e l l t o i n c l u d e t h e S h c l l i n t<r
their analyses.And for designers trl' hypeftexl systems. the
ilwarenessthat especially the Reader is used in certain nondefnult ways may be useful to meet the needs of those
w o l k i n g w i t h t h e i r s y s t e n r s ,w r i t e r s a n d r e a d e r sa l i k e .
lirrnrat.
A lt t ntoott co nre s with thc r at her bas ic St or y s pac e@Pu g e
lltulcr tlrat ckres not includc a palette, toolbar or lull1'lcdgcclrnerru r,vhcrc a help function could have been
i rrrplenre nte d.'I'h er.ea re ot hc r hy pc r f ic t ions , lik e Car ol y n
(i uyer' s Qttib blitrg [-5]. tha t pic k up t he "help"- c ont ent in t h e
rl i -uit alpar ate xt a s well. J oy c e' s A. f ient oonis unic lue in t h a t
t he " help"-b ran ch is no t a s in- 91e.
dis c r et e pat h t hat does , i n
t hc cnd. le lcl ba ck in to t he "nr ain" t ex t . Thc help- pat h i s
itself rnatle out of scveral branclres iincl, nrore importantly,
s i n sle notle s fio nr tlris pa lh t uf n Lr plat er on, t hen lppear i n g
a s l)af t of the "nra in" te x t . Thus , what is c or nr nor r ly qu i t e
clsilv cliscerrribleas a piiratext (the help-f'catule) now fuses
rvit h t lrc te xt a nd lo se s its e x t r at ex t uals t at us .
REFERENCES
l . K u h l e n . R a i n e r . H y p e r t e x t : E i n n i c h t - l i n e a r e s M e (l i u n r
z w i s c h e n B u c h u n d Wi s s e n s b a n k . B e r l i n . S D r i n q e r '.
l99l .
U ncle B udd y's Pha nto m Funhous e - Flex ible Func t ions
Sinrilar cftects can bc irnaginecltor functional parts of the
rct t ltr (lik c tlre prin t fun c t ion) or t he link - s t r uc t ur e whic h ,
in the case ot Adventule Carnes on the cornputcr, is not only
lun r.rnclerlyin-r
but also parl ol the story told. Therefirre,
-cricl,
cvcn the text of the rnetatext should not only be read as :in
outsiclc text that recluires a certain technical literacy and
l l . arnest he "rna in" text, b ut as an int egr al par t ol' t he "niai n "
t e xt.' fhere are in cle eclt ex t s . lik e J ohn M c Daid' s [ . J t x : L c
lJrrtltlv'.sPltutttont FtuthoLt.sc[6], that reflect this relation ot'
t e xt antl para -/rlcta tcxt in a way t hat t ur ns t he "ac t ual" t e x t
i n to l n)etate xt o l'lhe Da r at ex t .M c Daid wor k s wit h er r o r n l cssalcs tlrat ap pe ar on c lr c k ing "help"- or "pnnt "- but t o n s ,
b ut also. in on c ca se . o n t ollowing an uns us pic ious lin k .
M c Daicl sh itis te xt-le ve ls ( r nain. m et a. par a) and m ak es t h i s
2. Clenette,G6rarci.Serrl1,i.
Paris: Editions de Seuil, l9lJ7.
3. Aarseth, Espen J. C--ybertext:Perspectives on Ergodic
l - i t e r i i l u r e .B a l t i m o r e , J o h n s H o p k i n s , I 9 9 7 .
4. Joyce. Michael. A.fientootr
lJastgate.1996.
A
S f r , r 'r , . Wu t C r t( ) w t) .
Watertowrr.IJastgate.
1992.
-5. Guyer.Carolyn.Quibblitt,q.
6. McDaid. .lohn. Utrclc Rrcldy'.; Plrattlottr Frutltort.tt
Watcrtown,Eastgate,| 992.
7. D i scw orl dII. P sygnosi s,
1996.
t20
I