Author: brfoster

Being dysfunctional is normally defined as deviating from the norm, acting unusual to normal standards, or behaving in an abnormal way. It can also be defined as not working in its regular fashion. Humans like to describe things as dysfunctional if it does not fit their societal social standards of what is normal. But truly, who are we to define what is normal or not? Is being normal what the majority of people are doing? Or is it just what we are used to seeing? The two games, Game, Game, Game, and Again Game by Jason Nelson and Perfect World by Ansh Patel are the perfect examples of being dysfunctional.

Before I even began playing Game, Game, Game, and Again Game, the home page already screamed dysfunctional. It was not exactly aesthetically pleasing. The typed information and instructions seemed normal, but then there are drawn arrows in different colors all over the home page. It is quite distracting and makes it a little difficult to understand what is going on. Nonetheless, I finally got through the instructions and started to play the game. Initially, the game looks as if it was designed by a 5-year-old in an art class. The drawing looks like it was all filled in the crayons and the graphics are pretty distracting. There is also a voice that says “Come on and meet your maker” each time you hit an obstacle in the game. Additionally, whenever you hit an obstacle, more words, graphics, and distractions appear on the screen. All in all, it seems very dysfunctional, but I was able to reach the end of the game and pass all 13 levels. In the end, it is very strange. It displays a video of a candle lighting up a potato and discussing the “true meaning of life”. Also, it tells me the real end of the game is life. This game confused me a lot and seemed far from normal. This is why I would describe it as being ludic form of dysfunctional.

Moreover, I would say that the Perfect World is much less dysfunctional in comparison to Game, Game, Game, and Again Game.  I would even go as far as to say that the Perfect World had a similar meaning to Game, Game, Game, and Again Game. In the Perfect World, I noticed that the further you attempted to go (physically or mentally), the game became more and more distorted. This is similar to Game, Game, Game, and Again Game, because whenever you would try to progress, impossible obstacles were there and more and more distractions appeared on the screen. However, the Perfect World is much more aesthetically pleasing then Game, Game, Game, and Again Game. Perfect World seems to be more experimentally dysfunctional because it seems to have a clear meaning on its nonsense and random distortions. It seems that the deeper you try to uncover your true self, the game becomes completely distorted. When I attempted to separate the body from the mind, the words became illegible. I feel as if these games were telling us that the farther we try to uncover life, the more dysfunctional everything else becomes.

Sublimity has many meanings and can be applicable to an array of topics. The American sublime focuses on the beauty and excellence of topics such as fine arts, philosophy, and literature, as discussed in David E. Nye’s work, “The Sublime” from American Technological Sublime. Nye touches on how sublimity has an intense sense of awakening, a “healthy shock”.  I feel as if a sublime moment allows one to think outside of the norm and truly challenge one’s way of life in all aspects. Throughout this reading, the sublime actually takes on different roles for different situations. I believe that the sublime can be looked at through different viewpoints during the existing pandemic of COVID-19.

The sublime experience can be defined by two different forms, the mathematical sublime and the dynamic sublime. Nye defines the mathematical sublime as “the encounter with extreme magnitude or vastness” and the dynamic sublime as “the contemplation of scenes that arouse terror”. These two forms can easily be applied to the current circumstances of the pandemic and our state of life for the time being. I believe that the dynamic sublime initially began thinking back to the initial hearing of the Coronavirus reaching the United States. Even at this point, I do not believe it terrified everyone yet. As Davidson Students, our dynamic sublime is the email we all received from President Carol Quillen on Thursday, March 12th, 2020. This day still haunts us and probably will more so haunt the seniors for a long time. In this dynamic sublime, each senior has to confront the harsh reality that there is no more regular graduation commencement ceremony, there is no last frolics, no beach week, no more months with the best friends they have made in their life, and not even an acceptable “goodbye”. It is almost unreal. Worst of all this dynamic sublime continues to hang over there head and are constantly reminded each zoom class session.

Furthermore, the mathematical sublime is mostly just hopeful thinking. In this case, the mathematical sublime is the possibility that this will all be over in April, graduation will continue, and life will go back to some kind of normal pretty soon. The mathematical sublime is seeing all of us back on campus again, no more social distancing, and having a proper goodbye. In this mathematical sublime, “the mind is able to conceive something larger and more powerful than the senses can grasp”. It may sound somewhat pessimistic but the mathematical sublime here is not looking like it would turn out this way. It is sad to even have to look at it in this light. On the other hand, our mathematical sublime can just be imagining the day when this is all over and how great like will be no matter the circumstances. We can enjoy the truly sublime of the nature around us, enjoying the company we keep and appreciating life in a much better light. When this is over, we will experience a truly sublime, a “healthy shock”.

While looking through the poems/games, I was quite intrigued by the rapid and spontaneous generation of text. Initially, I assumed that these poems were very random. However, Scott Rettberg explains that the use of combinatory poems expresses an unconscious collectiveness and helps inspire other digital media works. Another point made about the use of combinatory poems was the idea that these works are trying to fool people into believing that the computer/game/poem is actually communicating with them and generating works that cater to them.

I saw many similarities between “Love Letters” and “House of Dust” because they produced new stanzas of poetry about every 2 seconds. Sometimes the poems would be very moving, other times it was hard to comprehend these works. I honestly enjoyed these works because they allowed me to break free from the traditional poetic style, which is full of hidden meanings and deep emotions. These works allowed me to appreciate poetry and electronic literature in a different light. These combinatory poems forced you to understand these random lines and dive deeper than the surface level. They make you really try to find deeper meanings within the text.

The work, “Scholastic Texts” stood out because instead of providing a whole new stanza, it only generated a new line about every 2 seconds, to generate a poem that goes on forever. It is constantly changing the theme of the poem while also sticking to a strict pattern. I still see more similarities between “Scholastic Texts” and “House of Dust” because both works do not feel personal and are following a systematic pattern. On the other hand, “Love Letter” felt as if I was reading different versions of letters to give to someone or that someone gave to me.

In relation to the Twine games we focused on last week, these works are only similar to the forms of using a dark or colorless background. There is a clear difference of the lack of making your own choices and choosing your own path and the form of interactivity. The Twine games seemed to be internal exploratory while these texts are completely external exploratory. Twine games seemed more personal and allowed you to form quick connections with the text but these combinatory poems force you to make connections and aren’t personal at all. Despite all of this, I can appreciate combinatory poems as being a unique genre of poetry that allows the reader to be fully engaged because of the quick generation of new text while simultaneously losing the attention of the reader with the random pairings and spontaneous text.

In comparison to the game we played last class, The Baron, playing Shade was much more challenging. The Baron was easier to navigate and gave more information on what was happening in the game at that moment. Playing Shade I became frustrated very quickly with the failed commands I entered. In my opinion, The Baron gave more hints about what the next steps should be, but Shade gives more limited information. I found myself giving up much quicker while playing Shade in comparison to playing The Baron.

While playing this game, I was constantly entering different commands until it would let me move on. It was almost as if I was in an argument with the game, and the only way I could win is to do exactly what it wants. Douglas states that “the emerging character is a negotiation between play and design”. I agree with this statement and would also say that this limits the interactive freedom in most games. I would describe this game as an internal-exploratory because I am now involved in this game world, but there is a pre-defined storyline that I must follow. Making my own choices does not necessarily affect the outcomes, because if I make the wrong choice it abruptly stops me. The game does not allow your own personality to influence the turn of events, but you are still eager and persistent to proceed further throughout the game.

The use of the second-person during the game’s narration allows the player to get a more personal feel. I didn’t realize how impersonal and distanced the first-person narrative actually is until exploring more electronic literature. Receiving directions and commands while being referred to as “you” allows one to be immersed within the storyline. I feel as if this level of engagement made me so determined to finish, despite my frustration. Second-person narration can really grab the audience’s attention and coerce them to want to get to the end of the story of their characters.

My favorite part of Shade was the ending, even though it took me over an hour to get there. Towards the end of the game, the narration switches from second-person to third-person, as an outsider looking in at someone who is dead in the sand, but that person is you. This play on the psyche makes you question the entire storyline and makes you wonder if any of it was actually real. This rhetoric allows the player to not only be engaged while playing the game, but the engagement continues upon completion as the player tries to analyze the story line and question oneself.

We live in a digital day and age, where everything has become electronic, even our books. We discussed the five affordances that books grant us, but there are also affordances that electronic literature and media can offer. Janet Murray describes the four essential properties of digital environments in Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Murray spoke about digital media being participatory, procedural, spatial, and encyclopedic. Digital media can be also be interactive, as well as immersive.

Moreover, I believe that the affordances of electronic literature can go beyond the affordances granted through physical books. Books are finite and grant us a fixed story, where we can only imagine what has already been presented to us. The participation is limited, because we are given the setting, tone, characteristics, etc. With electronic literature and different digital  programs, the participation is endless. Murray gives us the example of the program ELIZA. Although, it initially wasn’t running at top efficiency, it was able to be an interactive story teller that followed the readers imagination and even gave different twists. Programs like this can allow audiences to not only follow a pathway, but also create their own. Growing up, I always wished that I could change the conclusions of different novels. Would slight changes in characters’ decisions result in a completely different outcome? Digital media has now allowed us this opportunity and many more.

Books are both writeable as well as readable, to some extent. We discussed the advantages of marginal spaces and sizes in books. This allows readers to leave notes, comments, and interpretations, but as stated earlier these comments are limited to the finite text already given. With electronic literature this affordance can live up to its full potential. You are able to actually write and read a story that can incorporate your ideas, as well as previously programmed ideas.

Coincidentally, many people feel as if this digital era has caused people to become “lazier” and create “shortcuts”. I disagree, if anything this era has caused many authors to become more innovative. These different media outlets have allowed others to explore an array of creative outcomes to a story that was once very limited. Books have set the foundation for the creation of electronic literature and digital media and the affordances of both platforms are equally advantageous.