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Bolter: Seeing and Writing (Writing systems are not static (IN the…
Bolter: Seeing and Writing
Effect of
Print
on Letters
reduced the letter to a visual minimum
make the letter unobtrusive
Writing systems are not static
IN the manuscript age there were myriad scripts throughout Western Europe
Hybrid of verbal and pictorial elements
Variety of fonts in print
Use of diagrams and graphs
Computer allows writers to create their own fonts etc.
Use of animation and other pictorial elements
Newer technologies begin with imitation of the old
Print
Took decades for printers to realise there was no need to use abbreviations and
ligatures
Precision of the machine now replaced the organic beauty of the handwritten page
Print progressively used less ink and more white space
Looking for mass produced matters
Newspapers
Pulp fiction
Serifs
became thinner
Early printed books attempted to replicate layout of manuscripts
Focus on precision and detail
No way to recall hundreds of copies in case an error is discovered
Notes moved to
#
Foot of the page
Back of the book
Text divided into blocks
Readers move back and forth between blocks
Different shapes and sizes
Text is stationary
Reader's eye moves
Word Processor
Complete graphic freedom to writer
decorate texts with different type sizes, styles and fonts
Not possible to create subtle curves
pixelated
Impermanence of the electronic image discourages attention to fine visual detail
Digital typography subject to recall and change
Computer typography
renders the writing space as measurable
numbered lines or points
mathematization of writing
Spreadsheet
Both verbal and diagram
Writing space is itself numbered
Data structures
Subtelties of type size and style no longer as important
Computer window is a framing device
Indefinite two-dimensional space
Windows can be arranged
Tiles
Stacked
Size of the window can be enlarged
First in the history of writing
Hypertext
Links between windows and texts
Text moves
Reader's eye is stationary
eg.
electronic billboards
Manuscript
13th c. scribes developed visual cues to help reader locate text
different styles and sizes of letters
Provision for marginal notes
explanations
commentary
Visual and Aural
Electronic writing
Both words and images stored as binary code
Can combine images and text with greater ease
pulls back towards pictorial space
Increasing visualization of statistics
Electronic space is infinite but numbered
#
Creation of dynamic diagrams
eg. maps to reflect passage of time
Maps as temporal experience
Phonetic Writing
Created dichotomy between
Image
Phonetic sign
Pulls writer and reader towards linear space
held the spoken word in fixed form till they were revived by the voice of the reader
Manuscript illumination
impulse to decorate the writing space
Print
Stricter separation between spaces
pictorial
Copper engraving
Woodcut
verbal
typeface