How We Read: Close, Hyper, Machine - N. Katherine Hayles

7/30/2019 How We Read: Close, Hyper, Machine - N. Katherine Hayles

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ADE BullEtin numBEr150, 2010 62

Te author is professorand director of graduatestudies in the literatureprogram at Duke Uni-versity. A version of thearticle was presented atthe 2010 ADE SummerSeminar East in Adelphi,Maryland.

he vidnc is mounting: popl in gnral, and young popl in particular, ardoing mor scrn rading o digital matrials tan vr bor. Manwil, t

rading o print books and o litrary gnrs (novls, plays, and poms) as bn

dclining ovr t last twnty yars. Wors, rading skills (as masurd by t ability

to idntiy tms, draw inrncs, tc.) av bn dclining in junior ig, igscool, collg, and vn graduat scools or t sam priod. wo agsip rports

rom t National endowmnt or t Arts, Reading at Risk, rporting t rsults otir own survys, and o Read or Not to Read, drawing togtr otr larg-scalsurvys, sow tat ovr a wid rang o data-gatring instrumnts t rsults ar

consistnt: popl rad lss print, and ty rad print lss wll. Tis lads t NeAcairman, Dana Gioia, to suggst tat t correlation btwn dcrasd litrary

rading and poorr rading ability is indd acausalconnction. T NeA argus(and I o cours agr) tat litrary rading is a good in itsl, insoar as it opns t

portals o a ric litrary ritag (s Griswold, McDonnll, and Wrigt or t con-

tinud ig cultural valu placd on rading). Wn dcrasd print rading, alradya cultural concrn, is linkd wit rading problms, it carris a doubl wammy.

Fortunatly, t nws is not all bad. A nwr NeA rport, Reading on the Rise,sows or t rst tim in mor tan two dcads an uptick in novl rading (but

not plays or poms), including among t digitally nativ young adult coort (ags

1824). T uptick may b a rsult o t Big Rad initiativ by t NeA and simi-lar programs by otr organizations; watvr t rason, it sows tat print can still

b an alluring mdium. At t sam tim, rading scors among ourt and igtgradrs rmain at, dspit t No Cild Lt Bind initiativ. Notwitstanding

t complxitis o t national pictur, it sms clar tat a critical nxus occurs

in t junctur o digital rading (xponntially incrasing among all but t old-st coort) and print rading (downward trnding wit a sligt uptick rcntly).

T crucial qustions ar ts: ow to convrt t incrasd digital rading into

incrasd rading ability and ow to mak ctiv bridgs btwn digital rading

and t litracy traditionally associatd wit print.

Mark Baurlin (a consultant on t Reading at Riskrport), in t onsivlytitld Te Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupees Young Americans and

Jeopardizes Our Future, maks no apology or linking t dclin o rading skills di-rctly to a dcras in print rading, issuing a stinging indictmnt to tacrs, pros-

sors, and otr mntors wo tink digital rading migt ncourag skills o its own.

Not only is tr no transr btwn digital rading and print rading skills in isviw, but digital rading dos not vn lad to strongdigitalrading skills (93111).I ound Te Dumbest Generation intriguing and inuriating in qual masur. Tbook is valuabl or its syntsis o a grat dal o mpirical vidnc, going wll b-

yond t 2009 NeA rport in tis rgard; it is inuriating in its tndntious rusal

how W Rad: Clos, hypr, Macin

N. Katrin hayls

ADE and the Association of Departments of English are t rademarks owned by the Modern Language A ssociation. by the Association of Departments of En glish, CrossRef DOI: 10.1632/ade.150.62, ISSN 0001-0898


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How We Read: Close,Hyper, Machine

N. Katrin hayls

to admit any salutary cts rom digital rading. As Baurlin movs rom t solidlongitudinal data on t dclin in print rading to t digital ralm, t vidncbcoms scantir and t ancdots mor rqunt, wit xampls obviously wigtd

toward sowing t inanity o onlin cats, blogs, and Facebookntris. It would, ocours, b qually possibl to arvst xampls sowing t dpt, proundity, and

brillianc o onlin discours, so Baurlins argumnt r ails to prsuad. Ttwo arlir NeA rports (Reading at Risk; o Read) sur rom tir own problms;tir data do not clarly distinguis btwn print and digital rading, and ty ail

to masur ow muc digital rading is going on or its cts on rading abilitis

(Kirscnbaum). Nvrtlss, dspit ts limitations and distortions, w radrs

ar likly to com away unconvincd tat tr is somting lik a national crisis inrading and tat it is spcially acut wit tn and young adult radrs.

At tis point, scolars in litrary studis sould b jumping on tir dsks and wav-

ing tir ands in t air, saying hy! Look at us! W know ow to rad reallywll,and w know ow to tac studnts to rad. Trs a national crisis in rading? W

can lp. Yt tr is littl vidnc tat t prossion o litrary studis as mad

a signicant dirnc in t national pictur, including on t collg lvl, wrrading abilitis continu to dclin vn into graduat scool. Tis is strang. Tinability to addrss t crisis succssully no doubt as multipl causs, but on in par-

ticular striks m as vitally important. Wil litrary studis continus to tac clos

rading to studnts, it dos lss wll in xploiting t trnd toward t digital. Studnts

rad incssantly in digital mdia and writ in it as wll, but only inrquntly ar ty

ncouragd to do so in litratur classs or in nvironmnts tat ncourag t transr

o print rading abilitis to digital and vic vrsa. T two tracks, print and digital, run

sid by sid, but mssags rom itr track do not lap across to t otr sid.

Close Reading and Disciplinary Identity

o xplor wy tis sould b so and opn possibilitis or synrgistic intractions,

I bgin by rvisiting tat sacrd icon o litrary studis, clos rading. Wn litrary

studis xpandd its purviw in t 1970s and 1980s, it turnd to rading many di-

rnt kinds o txts, rom Donald Duck to asion cloting, tlvision programs

to prison arcitctur (s Scols). Tis xpansion into divrs txtual ralms mant

tat litratur was no longr t d acto cntr o t ld. Facd wit t loss o

tis traditional cntr, litrary scolars ound a rplacmnt in clos rading, t on

ting virtually all litrary scolars know ow to do wll and agr is important. Clos

rading tn assumd a prminnt rol as t ssnc o t disciplinary idntity.Jan Gallop undoubtdly spaks or many wn s writs, I would argu tat

t most valuabl ting englis vr ad to or was t vry ting tat mad us a

disciplin, tat transormd us rom culturd gntlmn into a prossion [i.., clos

rading]. . . . Clos radinglarnd troug practic wit litrary txts, larnd in

litratur classsis a widly applicabl skill, o ral valu to studnts as wll as to

scolars in otr disciplins (15). Barbara Jonson, in r wll-known ssay ac-

ing Dconstructivly, gos urtr: Tis [clos rading] is t only tacing tat can

proprly b calld litrary; anyting ls is istory o idas, biograpy, psycology,


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N. Katrin hayls

tics, or bad pilosopy (140). For Gallop, Jonson, and many otrs, clos rading

not only assurs t prossionalism o t prossion but also maks litrary studis

an important asst to t cultur. As suc, clos rading justis t disciplins con-

tinud xistnc in t acadmy, including t monis spnt to support litratur ac-

ulty and dpartmnts. Mor broadly, clos rading in tis viw constituts t major

part o t cultural capital tat litrary studis rlis on to prov its wort to socity.Litrary scolars gnrally tink ty know wat is mant byclose reading, but,lookd at mor closly, it provs not so asy to dn or xmpliy. Jonatan Cullr,

quoting Ptr Middlton, obsrvs tat clos rading is our contmporary trm

or a trognous and largly unorganizd st o practics and assumptions (20).

Jon Guillory is mor spcic wn istoricizs clos rading, arguing tat clos

rading is a modrn acadmic practic wit an inaugural momnt, a priod o d-

vlopmnt, and now praps a priod o dclin (Clos Rading 8). h locats

its prologu in t work o I. A. Ricards, noting tat Ricards contrastd clos

rading wit t mdia xplosion o is day, tlvision. I tat McLuansqu viw

o mdia is prologu, tn digital tcnologis, Guillory suggsts, may b launc-

ing t pilogu. Citing my work on yprattntion (mor on tat sortly), Guil-

lory sts up a dicotomy btwn t clos rading rcognizabl to most litrary

scolarsdtaild and prcis attntion to rtoric, styl, languag coic, and so

ort troug a word-by-word xamination o a txts linguistic tcniqusto t

digital world o ast rading and sporadic sampling. In tis anticipats t clos

vrsus digital rading agrantly on display in Baurlins book.

Amid t trognity o clos rading tcniqus, praps t dominant on

in rcnt yars as bn wat Stpn Bst and Saron Marcus call symptomatic

rading. In a spcial issu oRepresentations, Bst and Marcus launc a rontal as-sault on symptomatic rading as it was inauguratd by Frdric Jamsons immnsly

inuntial Te Political Unconscious. For Jamson, wit is motto Always istori-ciz, t txt is an alibi or idological ormations tat ar subtxtual. T roic

task o t critic is to wrnc a txts idology into t ligt, massy and dripping,

as Jamson puts it (245; qtd. in Cran 92), so tat it can b unvild and rsistd (s

Cran or a clos analysis o Jamsons mtapors). T trac o symptomatic rading

may b dtctd in Jonson: listing txtual aturs tat mrit spcial attntion or

clos rading, s includs suc constructions as ambiguous words, undcidabl

syntax, and incompatibilitis btwn wat a txt says and wat it dos (14142).

Most i not all ts oci ar xactly t placs wr scolars doing symptomatic

rading would look or vidnc o a txts subsurac idology.

Atr mor tan two dcads o symptomatic rading, owvr, many litraryscolars ar not nding it a productiv practic, praps bcaus (lik many dcon-

structiv radings) its rsults av bgun to sm ormulaic, lading to prdictabl

conclusions ratr tan complling insigts. In a parapras o Gills Dluz and

Flix Guattaris amous rmark, W ar tird o trs, t Representationsspcialissu dclard, W ar tird o symptomatic rading. T issus contributors ar not

t only ons wo l tis way. In panl atr panl at t conrnc sponsord

by t National humanitis Cntr in spring 2010, ntitld T Stat and Staks

o Litrary Studis, prsntrs xprssd similar viws and urgd a varity o otr


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N. Katrin hayls

rading mods, including surac rading, in wic t txt is xamind not or

iddn clus but its ovrt mssags; rading aimd at apprciation and articulation

o t txts asttic valu; and a varity o otr rading stratgis ocusing on a-

ct, plasur, and cultural valu.

Digital and Print Literacies

I on captr o clos rading is drawing to an nd, wat nw possibilitis ar aris-

ing? Givn t incras in digital rading, obvious sits or nw kinds o rading

tcniqus, pdagogical stratgis, and initiativs ar t intractions btwn digital

and print litracis. Litrary studis as bn slow to addrss ts possibilitis, ow-

vr, bcaus it continus to viw clos rading o print txts as t lds ssnc. As

long as tis bli olds sway, digital rading will at bst b sn as pripral to our

concrns, pusd to t margins as not rally rading or at last not complling or

intrsting rading. Young popl, wo vot wit tir t in collg, ar marcing

in anotr dirctiont digital dirction. No doubt tos wo alrady rad wll

will tak classs basd on clos rading and bnt rom tm, but wat about ot-

rs wos print-rading skills ar not as igly dvlopd? o rac tm, w must

start clos to wr ty ar, ratr tan wr w imagin or op ty migt b.

As David Laurnc obsrvs, good tacrs dlibratly ocus on wat t radr

can do, mak sur tat bot tacr and studnt rcogniz and acknowldg it, and

us it as a platorm o succss rom wic to build (4).

Tis principl was codid by t Blarusian psycologist L. S. Vygotsky in t

1930s as t zon o proximal dvlopmnt. InMind in Society: Te Developmento Higher Psychological Processes, dnd tis zon as [t] distanc btwn tactual dvlopmntal lvl as dtrmind by indpndnt problm solving and t

lvl o potntial dvlopmnt as dtrmind troug problm solving undr adultguidanc, or in collaboration wit mor capabl prs (86). T concpt implis

tat i t distanc is too grat btwn wat on wants somon ls to larn and

wr instruction bgins, t tacing will not b ctiv. Imagin, or xampl,

trying to xplain Hamletto a tr-yar-old (an ndlss string o Wy? would nodoubt rsult, t all-purpos rspons o young cildrn to t mystrious work-

ings o t adult world). Mor rcnt work on scaolding (Robrtson, Fluck, and

Wbb) and Ron insly and Kimbrly Lbak on t zon o rctiv capacity

xtnds t ida and amplis it wit spcic larning stratgis. Ts autors agr

tat or larning to occur, t distanc btwn instruction and availabl skills must

b capabl o bing bridgd, itr troug dirct instruction or, as Vygotsky nots,troug working wit mor capabl prs. Baurlin instancs many rsponss

rom young popl as ty ncountr difcult print txts to t ct t works ar

boring or not wort t troubl. how can w convy to suc studnts t dp

ngagmnt w l wit callnging litrary txts? I argu tat w cannot do tis

ctivly i our tacing dos not tak plac in t zon o proximal dvlopmnt,

tat is, i w ar ocusd xclusivly on print clos rading. Bor opinion solidis

bind nw vrsions o clos rading, I want to argu or a disciplinary sit to a

broadr sns o rading stratgis and tir intrrlation.


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N. Katrin hayls

In 1999, Jams Sosnoski prscintly introducd t concpt o yprrading,

wic dnd as radr-dirctd, scrn-basd, computr-assistd rading (167).

exampls includ sarc quris (as in aGooglesarc), ltring by kywords, skim-ming, yprlinking, pcking (pulling out a w itms rom a longr txt), and

ragmnting (16372). Updating is modl, w may add juxtaposing, as wn sv-

ral opn windows allow on to rad across svral txts, and scanning, as wn onrads rapidly troug a blog to idntiy itms o intrst. Tr is considrabl vi-

dnc tat yprrading dirs signicantly rom typical print rading, and mor-

ovr tat yprrading stimulats dirnt brain unctions tan print rading.

For xampl, Jakob Nilsns consulting tam, wic adviss companis and ot-

rs on ctiv Wb dsign, dos usability rsarc by asking tst subjcts to d-

livr running vrbal commntaris as ty ncountr Wb pags. Tir ractions

ar rcordd by a (uman) tstr; at t sam tim, y-tracking quipmnt rcords

tir y movmnts. T rsarc sows tat Wb pags ar typically rad in an F

pattrn (Nilsn, F-Sapd). A prson rads t rst two or tr lins across t

pag, but as t y travls down t scrn, t scannd lngt gts smallr, and,

by t tim t bottom o t pag is racd, t y is travling in a vrtical lin

alignd wit t lt margin. (Tror t worst location or important inorma-

tion on a Wb pag is on t bottom rigt cornr.) In Baurlins viw, tis rsarc

conrms tat digital rading is sloppy in t xtrm; Baurlin would no doubt

apprciat Woody Allns quip, I took a spd rading cours and was abl to rad

War and Peacein twnty minuts. It involvs Russia (qtd. in Dan 18). Nvr-tlss, otr rsarc not citd by Baurlin indicats tat tis and similar stratgis

work wll to idntiy pags o intrst and to distinguis tm rom pags wit littl

or no rlvanc to t topic at and (Sillnc, Briggs, harris, and Fiswick).

As a stratgic rspons to an inormation-intnsiv nvironmnt, yprrading is

not witout prcdnt. Jon Guillory, in how Scolars Rad, nots tat [t] acto quantity is an intractabl mpirical givn tat must b managd by a dtrmind

mtod i analysis or intrprtation is to b undrtakn (13). h is not talking r

about digital rading but about arcival rsarc tat rquirs a scolar to mov

troug a grat dal o matrial quickly to nd t rlvant txts or passags. h

idntis two tcniqus in particular, scanning (looking or a particular kyword,

imag, or otr txtual atur) and skimming (trying to gt t gist quickly). h

also mntions t book wl, a pysical dvic invntd in t Rnaissanc to cop

wit t inormation xplosion wn t numbr o books incrasd xponntially

wit t advnt o print. Rsmbling a v-oot-ig Frris wl, t book wl

ld svral books on dirnt slvs and could b spun around to mak dirnttxts accssibl, in a prdigital print vrsion o yprrading.

In contmporary digital nvironmnts, t inormation xplosion o t Wb as

again mad an xponntially gratr numbr o txts availabl, dwarng t prvi-

ous amount o print matrials by svral ordrs o magnitud. In digital nviron-

mnts, yprrading as bcom a ncssity. It nabls a radr quickly to construct

landscaps o associatd rsarc lds and sublds; it sows rangs o possibilitis;

it idntis txts and passags most rlvant to a givn qury; and it asily juxtaposs

many dirnt txts and passags. Googlesarcs and kyword ltrs ar now as


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N. Katrin hayls

muc part o t scolars tool kit as yprrading itsl. Yt yprrading may not

sit asily alongsid clos rading. Rcnt studis indicat tat yprrading not only

rquirs dirnt rading stratgis tan clos rading but also may b involvd wit

cangs in brain arcitctur tat maks clos rading mor difcult to aciv.

Muc o tis vidnc is summarizd by Nicolas Carr in Te Shallows: What the

Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Mor judicious tan Baurlin, radily admitstat Wb rading as normously incrasd t scop o inormation availabl, romglobal politics to scolarly dbats. h worris, owvr, tat yprrading lads to

cangs in brain unction tat mak sustaind concntration mor difcult, lav-

ing us in a constant stat o distraction in wic no problm can b xplord or

vry long bor our nd or continuous stimulation kicks in and w cck -mail,

scan blogs, mssag somon, or cck our RSS ds. T situation is rminiscnt

o Kurt Vonnguts satirical sort story harrison Brgron, in wic t pursuit

o quality as ld to a socity tat imposs andicaps on anyon wit xcptional

talnts. T andsom, intllignt ponymous protagonist must among otr andi-

caps war yglasss tat giv im adacs; otr brainiacs av radio transmit-

trs implantd in tir ars, wic mit sriking sounds two or tr tims vry

minut, intrrupting tir tougts and prvnting sustaind concntration. T

nal satirical punc coms in raming t story rom t prspctiv o Brgrons

parnts, hazl and Gorg, wo s tir son on V wn proclaims is anti-

andicap manisto (wit atal rsults or im), but, amprd by tir own andi-

caps, ty cannot concntrat noug to rmmbr it.

T storys publication in 1961 sould giv us a clu tat a mdia-inducd stat o

distraction is not a nw pnomnon. Waltr Bnjamin, in T Work o Art in t

Ag o Mcanical Rproduction (1968), wrot about t ability o mass ntrtain-

mnt orms suc as cinma to mak distractd viwing into a abit (as opposd to

t contmplativ viwing o a singl work o art). evn toug distraction, as Jona-tan Crary (2001) as sown, as bn a social concrn sinc t lat 1800s, tr

ar som nw aturs o Wb rading tat mak it a powrul practic or rwiring

t brain (s Grnld or a summary). Among ts ar yprlinks tat draw

attntion away rom t linar ow o an articl, vry sort orms suc as twts

tat ncourag distractd orms o rading, small abitual actions suc as clicking

and navigating tat incras t cognitiv load, and, most prvasivly, t normous

amount o matrial to b rad, lading to t dsir to skim vryting bcaus tr

is way too muc matrial to pay clos attntion to anyting or vry long.

Reading on the Web

Wat vidnc indicats tat ts Wb-spcic cts ar making distraction a

contmporary cultural condition? Svral studis av sown tat, contrary to t

claims o arly yprtxt ntusiasts suc as Gorg Landow, yprlinks tnd to

dgrad comprnsion ratr tan nanc it. T ollowing studis, citd by Carr

in Te Shallows, dmonstrat t trnd. erping Zu, coordinator o instructionaldvlopmnt at t Cntr or Rsarc on Larning and acing at t Univrsity

o Micigan, ad tst subjcts rad t sam onlin passag but varid t numbr


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N. Katrin hayls

o links. As t numbr o links incrasd, comprnsion dclind, as masurd by

writing a summary and complting a multipl-coic tst. Similar rsults wr ound

by two Canadian scolars, David S. Miall and rsa Dobson, wo askd svnty

popl to rad elizabt Bowns sort story T Dmon Lovr. On group rad

it in a linar vrsion, and a scond group wit links. T rst group outprormd

t scond on comprnsion and grasp o t storys plot; it also rportd liking tstory mor tan t scond group. W may objct tat a print story would o cours

b bst undrstood in a printlik linar mod; otr vidnc, owvr, indicats

tat a similar pattrn obtains or digital-born matrial. D. S. Nidrausr, R. e.

Rynolds, D. J. Salmn, and P. Skolmoski ad tst subjcts rad two onlin articls,

on arguing tat knowldg is objctiv, and t otr tat knowldg is rla-

tiv. eac articl ad links allowing radrs to click btwn tm. T rsarcrs

ound tat tos wo usd t links, ar rom gaining a ricr sns o t mrits

and limitations o t two positions, undrstood tm lss wll tan radrs wo

cos to rad t two in linar asion. Comparabl vidnc was ound in a rviw

o tirty-igt xprimnts on yprtxt rading by Diana DStano and Jo-Ann

LFvr, psycologists wit t Cntr or Applid Cognitiv Rsarc at Canadas

Carlton Univrsity. Carr summarizs tir rsults, xplaining tat in gnral t

vidnc did not support t claim tat yprtxt ld to an nricd xprinc o

t txt (qtd. in Carr 129). On o tir conclusions was tat incrasd dmands o

dcision-making and visual procssing in yprtxt impaird rading prormanc,

spcially in rlation to traditional print prsntation (qtd. in Carr 129).

Wy sould yprtxt and Wb rading in gnral lad to poorr comprnsion?

T answr, Carr blivs, lis in t rlation o working mmory (i.., t contnts

o consciousnss) to long-trm mmory. Matrial is ld in working mmory or

only a w minuts, and t capacity o working mmory is svrly limitd. For a

simpl xampl, I tink o t cll-pon dirctory unction tat allows m to gtpon numbrs, wic ar givn orally (tr is an option to av a txt mssag

snt o t numbr, but or tis t company cargs an additional , and bing

o a rugal disposition, I dont go or tat option). I nd tat i I rpat t numbrs

out loud svral tims so ty occupy working mmory to t xclusion o otr

tings, I can rtain tm long noug to punc t numbr. For rtntion o mor

complx mattrs, t contnts o working mmory must b transrrd to long-trm

mmory, prrably wit rptitions to acilitat t intgration o t nw matrial

wit xisting knowldg scmas. T small distractions involvd wit yprtxt

and Wb radingclicking on links, navigating a pag, scrolling down or up, and

so onincras t cognitiv load on working mmory and trby rduc tamount o nw matrial it can old. Wit linar rading, by contrast, t cognitiv

load is at a minimum, prcisly bcaus y movmnts ar mor routin and wr

dcisions nd to b mad about ow to rad t matrial and in wat ordr. hnc

t transr to long-trm mmory appns mor fcintly, spcially wn radrs

rrad passags and paus to rct on tm as ty go along.

Supplmnting tis rsarc ar otr studis sowing tat small abitual actions,

rpatd ovr and ovr, ar xtraordinarily ctiv in crating nw nural patways.

Carr rcounts t story told by Norman Doidg in Te Brain Tat Changes Itselo


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N. Katrin hayls

an accidnt victim, Mical Brnstin, wo ad a strok tat damagd is brains

rigt sid, rndring is lt and and lg crippld (3031). h ntrd an xpri-

mntal trapy program tat ad im prorming routin tasks wit is lt arm

and lg ovr and ovr, suc as wasing a window and tracing alpabt lttrs. T

rpatd actions, Carr rports, wr a mans o coaxing is nurons and synapss

to orm nw circuits tat would tak ovr t unctions onc carrid out by t cir-cuits in t damagd ara in is brain (30). evntually, Brnstin was abl to rgain

most o t unctionality o is unrsponsiv limbs. W may rmmbr in Te Ka-rate Kidlm (1984) wn Danil LaRusso (Ralp Maccio) is mad to do t samrptitiv tasks ovr and ovr again by is kung u tacr, Mr. Miagi (Pat Morita).

In contmporary nurological trms, Mr. Miagi is rtraining t young mans nural

circuits so can mastr t ssntials o kung u movmnts.

Ts rsults ar consistnt wit a larg body o rsarc on t impact o (print)

rading on brain unction. In a study citd by t Frnc nuropysiologist Stanis-

las Dan, a world-rnownd xprt in tis ara, rsarcrs sougt out siblings

rom poor Portugus amilis tat ad ollowd t traditional custom o aving

an ldr sistr stay om and watc t inant cildrn wil r youngr sistr wnt

to scool. Raisd in t sam amily, t sistrs could b assumd to av grown up

in vry similar nvironmnts, tus srving as a way to control otr variabls. Using

as tst subjcts six pairs o illitrat-litrat sistrs, rsarcrs ound tat litracy

ad strngtnd t ability to undrstand t ponmic structur o languag.

Functional magntic rsonanc (MRI) scans sowd pronouncd dirncs in t

antrior insula, adjacnt to Brocas ara (a part o t brain associatd wit languag

us). T litrat brain, Dan summarizs, obviously ngags many mor lt

mispric rsourcs tan t illitrat brain, vn wn w only listen to spc.. . . T macroscopic nding implis a massiv incras in t xcang o inorma-

tion across t two misprs (209).equally intriguing is Dans nural rcycling ypotsis, wic suggsts tat

rading rpurposs xisting brain circuits tat volvd indpndntly o rading (b-

caus litracy is a mr y blink in our volutionary istory, it did not play a rol

in saping t gntics o our Plistocn brains but ratr acts us pigntically

troug nvironmntal actors). Crucial in tis rgard is an ara calls t brains

lttrbox, locatd in t lt occipito-tmporal rgion at t back o t brain. Tis

ara, MRI data sow, is rsponsibl or lttr and ponmic rcognition, transmit-

ting its rsults to otr distant aras troug br bundls. h urtr argus tat

brain arcitctur imposs signicant constraints on t pysical saps tat will

b asily lgibl to us. h draws on rsarc dmonstrating tat 115 o t worldsdivrs writing systms (alpabtical and idograpic) us visual symbols consisting

mostly o tr stroks (plus or minus on). Morovr, t gomtry o ts stroks

mirrors in tir distribution t gomtry o saps in t natural nvironmnt. T

ida, tn, is tat our writing systms volvd in t contxt o our ability to rc-

ogniz natural saps and tat scribal xprimntation usd tis corrspondnc to

crat writing systms tat would most ctivly rpurpos xisting nural circuitry.

Dan tus nvisions a massiv slction procss: ovr tim, scribs dvlopd

incrasingly fcint notations tat ttd t organization o our brains. In bri,


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N. Katrin hayls

our cortx did not spcically volv or writing. Ratr, writing volvd to t t

cortx (171).

Currnt vidnc suggsts tat w ar now in a nw pas o t danc btwn

pigntic cangs in brain unction and t volution o nw rading and writing

modalitis on t Wb. Tink, or xampl, o t F pattrn o Wb rading tat t

Nilsn rsarc rvald. Canny Wb dsignrs us tis inormation to crat Wbpags, and rading suc pags urtr intnsis tis mod o rading. how quickly

nural circuits may b rpurposd by digital rading is suggstd by Gary Smalls

xprimnts at t Univrsity o Caliornia, Los Angls, on t cts o Wb rad-

ing on brain unctionality. Small and is collagus wr looking or digitally naiv

subjcts; ty rcruitd tr voluntrs in tir tis and sixtis wo ad nvr

prormd Googlesarcs (Small and Vorgan 1517). Tis group was rst tstdwit MRI brain scans, waring goggls onto wic wr projctd Wb pags. Tir

scans dird signicantly rom anotr group o comparabl ag and background

wo wr Wb savvy. Tn t naiv group was askd to sarc t Intrnt or an

our a day or v days. Wn rtstd, tir brain scans sowd masurabl dir-ncs in som brain aras, wic t xprimntrs attributd to nw nural patways

catalyzd by Wb sarcing. Citing tis study among otrs, Carr concluds tat

[k]nowing wat w know today, i you wr to st out to invnt a mdium tat would

rwir our mntal circuits as quickly and torougly as possibl, you would probably

nd up dsigning somting tat looks and works a lot lik t Intrnt (116).

how valid is tis conclusion? Altoug Carrs book is rplt wit many dirnt

kinds o studis, w sould b cautious about taking is conclusions at ac valu.

For xampl, in t MRI study don by Small and is collagus, many actors

migt skw t rsults. I dont know i you av ad a brain scan, but I av. As

Small mntions, brain scans rquir tat you b sovd into a tub just big noug to

accommodat your supin body but not big noug or you to turn ovr. Wn tscan bgins, suprcoold powrul lctromagnts gnrat a strong magntic ld,

wic, combind wit a radio rquncy mittr, allows minut cangs in blood

oxygn lvls in t brain to b dtctd and masurd. Wn t radio rquncy

mittr bgins pulsing, it sounds as toug a jackammr is ripping up pavmnt

nxt to your ar. Ts ar ardly typical conditions or Wb rading. In addition,

tr is considrabl vidnc tat MRI scans, valuabl as ty ar, ar also subjct

to a numbr o intrprtiv rrors and rronous conclusions (Sandrs). Nural activ-

ity is not masurd dirctly by MRI scans (as a microlctrod migt, or xampl).

Ratr, t most widly usd kind o MRI, BOLD (blood-oxygn-lvl dpndnt),

masurs tiny cangs in oxygnatd blood as a corrlat or brain activity. BOLDrsarc assums tat ardworking nurons rquir incrasd ows o oxygn-ric

blood and tat protons in moglobin molculs carrying oxygn rspond dir-

ntly to magntic lds tan protons in oxygn-dpltd blood. Ts dirncs

ar tabulatd and tn statistically transormd into colord imags, wit dirnt

colors sowing ig lvls o oxygn-ric compard wit oxygn-dpltd blood.T cain o assumptions tat ld Small, or xampl, to conclud tat brain unc-

tion cangd as a rsult oGooglesarcs can go wrong in svral dirnt ways(s Sandrs or a summary o ts criticisms). First, rsarcrs assum tat t


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N. Katrin hayls

correlation btwn activity in a givn brain ara is causedby a particular stimulus;owvr, most aras o t brain rspond similarly to svral dirnt kinds o stimuli,

so anotr stimulus could b activating t cang ratr tan t targtd on. Sc-ond, MRI data sts typically av a lot o nois, and i t xprimnt is not rpatd,

t obsrvd pnomnon may b a cimra ratr tan a gnuin rsult (in Smalls

cas, t xprimnt was rpatd latr wit igtn additional voluntrs). Bcaust data sts ar larg and unwildy, rsarcrs may rsort to using sopisticatd sta-

tistical sotwar packags ty do not ntirly undrstand. Finally, ty may b using

a circular mtodology in wic t ypotsis acts ow t data is sn (an ct

calld nonindpndnc). Wn on group o rsarcrs wnt back troug MRI

rsarc tat ad bn publisd in t prmir journals Nature, Science, NatureNeuroscience, Neuron, and tJournal o Neuroscience, it ound intrprtiv rrorsrsulting rom nonindpndnc in orty-two prcnt o t paprs (Sandrs).

Rlying on summaris o rsarc in books suc as Carrs crats additional az-

ards. I mntiond arlir a rviw o yprtxt xprimnts (DStano and LFvr)

citd by Carr, wic uss to buttrss is claim tat yprtxt rading is not as

good as linar rading. Consulting t rviw itsl rvals tat Carr as tiltd t

vidnc to support is viw. T autors stat, or xampl, tat [t]r may b

cass in wic nricmnt or complxity o t yprtxt xprinc is mor dsir-

abl tan maximizing comprnsion and as o navigation, rmarking tat tis

may b spcially tru or studnts wo alrady rad wll. Ty argu not or aban-

doning yprtxt but ratr or good yprtxt dsign tat taks cognitiv load

into account to nsur yprmdia provid at least as gooda larning nvironmntas mor traditional txt (1636; mpasis addd). having rad troug most o

Carrs primary sourcs, I can tstiy tat is gnrally conscintious in rporting

rsarc rsults; nvrtlss, t xampl illustrats t unsurprising act tat rad-

ing somon lss syntsis dos not giv as dtaild or prcis a pictur as radingt primary sourcs tmslvs.

Te Importance of Anecdotal Evidence

Facd wit ts complxitis, wat is a umanist to do? Obviously, w scolars in

t umanitis av t timor t xprtisto backtrack troug citd studis

and valuat tm or corrctnss and rplicability. In my viw, ts studis may b

suggstiv indicators but sould b subjct to t sam kind o carul scrutiny w

train our studnts to us wit Wb rsarc (rliability o sourcs, consnsus among

many dirnt rsarcrs, tc.). Praps our most valuabl yardstick or valuatingts rsults, owvr, is our own xprinc. W know ow w ract to intnsiv

Wb rading, and w know troug rpatd intractions wit our studnts ow ty

ar likly to rad, writ, and tink as ty grappl wit print and Wb matrials. As

tacrs (and parnts), w mak daily obsrvations tat itr conrm or disconrm

wat w rad in t scintic litratur. T scintic rsarc is valuabl and souldnot b ignord, but our xprincs ar also valuabl and can tll us a grat dal about

t advantags and disadvantags o yprrading compard wit clos rading, as

wll as t long-trm cts o ngaging in itr or bot o ts rading stratgis.


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N. Katrin hayls

Ancdotal vidnc ookd m on tis topic v yars ago, wn I was a Pi

Bta Scolar or a yar and in tat capacity visitd many dirnt typs o collgs

and univrsitis. evrywr I wnt, I ard tacrs rporting similar storis: I

cant gt my studnts to rad long novls anymor, so Iv takn to assigning sort

storis; My studnts wont rad long books, so now I assign captrs and xcrpts.

I ypotsizd tn tat a sit in cognitiv mods is taking plac, rom t dpattntion caractristic o umanistic inquiry to t yprattntion caractristic

o somon scanning Wb pags (hayls, hypr and Dp Attntion). I urtr

argud tat t sit in cognitiv mods is mor pronouncd t youngr t ag

coort. Drawing rom ancdotal vidnc as wll as suc survys as t Kaisr Foun-

dations Gen Mrport (Robrts, For, and Ridout), I suggstd tat t sittoward yprattntion is now noticabl wit collg studnts. Sinc tn, t trnd

as bcom vn mor apparnt, and t ood o survys, books, and articls on t

topic o distraction is now so prvasiv as to b, wll, distracting.

For m, t topic is muc mor tan t latst rsarc ad, bcaus it its m

wr I liv: t collg classroom. As a litrary scolar, I dply bliv in t impor-

tanc o writing and rading, so any larg-scal cang in ow young popl rad and

writ is bound to captur my attntion. In my work on yprattntion (publisd just

wn t topic was bginning to appar on t national radar), I argud tat dp

and yprattntion ac av distinctiv advantags. Dp attntion is ssntial or

coping wit complx pnomna suc as matmatical torms, callnging litr-

ary works, and complx musical compositions; yprattntion is usul or its xibil-

ity in switcing btwn dirnt inormation strams, its quick grasp o t gist o

matrial, and its ability to mov rapidly among and btwn dirnt kinds o txts.

As contmporary nvironmnts bcom mor inormation intnsiv, it is no surpristat yprattntion (and its associatd rading stratgy, yprrading) is growing and

tat dp attntion (and its corrlatd rading stratgy, clos rading) is diminising,particularly among young adults and tns. T problm, as I s it, lis not in ypr-

attntion/yprrading as suc, but ratr in t callngs t situation prsnts or

parnts and ducators to nsur tat dp attntion and clos rading continu to b

vibrant componnts o our rading culturs and intract synrgistically wit t kind

o Wb and yprrading in wic our young popl ar incrasingly immrsd.

Yt ypr- and clos rading ar not t wol story. I arlir rrrd to Sosnoskis

dnition o yprrading as computr-assistd. Mor prcisly, it is computr-

assistd uman rading. T ormulation alrts us to a tird componnt o con-

tmporary rading practics: uman-assistd computr rading, tat is, computr

algoritms usd to analyz pattrns in larg txtual corpora wr siz maks u-man rading o t ntirty impossibl. Macin rading rangs rom algoritms

or word-rquncy counts to mor sopisticatd programs tat nd and compar

prass, idntiy topic clustrs, and ar capabl o larning. Givn t scop, prva-

sivnss, and sopistication o contmporary programs usd to pars txts, it sms

to m quit rasonabl to say tat macins can rad. On could, o cours, rstrict

rad to uman bings, arguing tat rading implis comprnsion and tat ma-

cins calculat but do not comprnd. howvr, som uman radrs (bginnrs,

or xampl) may also rad wit minimum or no comprnsion. Morovr, t


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N. Katrin hayls

lin btwn (uman) intrprtation and (macin) pattrn rcognition is a porous

boundary, wit ac intracting wit t otr. hypotss about maning lp

sap t dsign o computr algoritms, and t rsults o algoritmic analyss

rn, xtnd, and occasionally callng intuitions about maning tat ormd

t starting point or algoritmic dsign. Putting uman rading in a lakproo

containr and isolating macin rading in anotr maks it difcult to s tsintractions and undrstand tir complx synrgis. Givn ts considrations,

saying computrs cannot rad is rom my point o viw mrly spcis cauvinism.

In a ld lik litrary studis, misundrstandings o t fcacy and importanc

o macin rading ar commonplac. evn suc a prcptiv critic as Cullr alls

back on caricatur wn, in writing about clos rading, suggsts, It may b

spcially important to rct on t varitis o clos rading and vn to propos

xplicit modls, in an ag wr lctronic rsourcs mak it possibl to do litrary

rsarc witout rading at all: nd all t instancs o t words begand beggarinnovls by two dirnt autors and writ up your conclusions (24). In otr words,

clos rading is t garlic tat will ward o t vampir o macin rading. T

anxity r is palpabl, nowr mor so tan in is nal pras (writ up your

conclusions), wic implis tat drawing conclusions rom macin analysis is a

mcanical xrcis dvoid o crativity, insigt, or litrary valu. evn Guillory,

a brilliant torist and clos radr, wil acknowldging tat macin rading is

a usul prostsis or t cognitiv skill o scanning, concluds tat t gap in

cognitiv lvl btwn t kyword sarc and intrprtation is or t prsnt

immasurabl (how 13). Tr ar two misapprnsions r: tat kyword

sarcs xaust t rprtoir o macin rading and tat t gap btwn analy-

sis and intrprtation yawns so wid as to orm an unbridgabl casm ratr tan

a dynamic intraction.

Givn ts misconcptions, xplicit rcapitulation o t valu o macin radingis usul. Altoug it may b usd wit a singl txt and rval intrsting pattrns, its

mor customary us is in analyzing larg corpora too vast to b rad by a singl pr-son. Prminnt in tis rgard is t work o Franco Mortti, wo uss t trm dis-

tant rading, an obvious countrpois to clos rading (Graphs). Carul rading ois work rvals tat tis construction lumps togtr uman and macin rading;

bot count as distant i t scal is larg. I tink it is usul to distinguis btwn

uman and macin rading bcaus t two situations (on don by a uman as-

sistd by macins, t otr don by computr algoritms assistd by umans) av

dirnt unctionalitis, limitations, and possibilitis. hyprrading may not b us-

ul or larg corpora, and macin algoritms av limitd intrprtiv capabilitis.I w look carully at Morttis mtodology, w s ow rmly it ruts t

misundrstandings rrrd to abov. his algoritmic analysis is usually mployd

to pos qustions. Wy ar t litims o many dirnt gnrs limitd to about

tirty yars (Graphs)? Wy do Britis novls in t midigtnt cntury usmany words in a titl and tn, witin a w dcads, cang so tat titls ar no

mor tan tr or our words long (Styl)? how to xplain cangs in narra-

tiv convntions suc as r indirct discours wn t novl movs rom Britain

to Britis colonis (Graphs)? I nd Morttis work intriguing or t pattrns


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N. Katrin hayls

uncovrs, but I am at out dligtd by t ingnious xplanations dviss to

account or tm. So ar byond t mcanical xrciss Cullr imagins ar ts

xplanations tat I would not sitat to call many o tm brilliant. Wn t x-

planations ail to prsuad (as Mortti candidly consss is somtims t cas vn

or im), t pattrns nvrtlss stand rvald as ntry points or intrprtations

advancd by otr scolars wo nd tm intrsting.I now turn to xplor t intrrlations btwn t componnts o an xpandd

rprtoir o rading stratgis tat includs clos, ypr, and macin rading. T

ovrlaps btwn tm ar as rvaling as t dirncs. Clos and yprrading

oprat synrgistically wn yprrading is usd to idntiy passags or to om in

on a w txts o intrst, wrupon clos rading taks ovr. As Guillory obsrvd,

skimming and scanning r altrnat wit in-dpt rading and intrprtation

(how). hyprrading ovrlaps wit macin rading in idntiying pattrns. Tis

migt b don in t contxt o aGooglekyword sarc, or xampl wn onnotics tat most o t work on a givn topic as bn don by X, or it migt b

don wn macin analysis conrms a pattrn alrady dtctd by ypr (or clos)

rading. Indd, skimming, scanning, and pattrn idntication ar likly to occur

wit all tr rading stratgis; tir prvalnc in on or anotr is a mattr o

scal and mpasis ratr tan clar-cut boundary.

Sinc pattrns av now ntrd t discussion, w may wondr wat a pattrn

is. Tis is not a trivial qustion, largly bcaus o t various ways in wic pat-

trns bcom manist. Pattrns in larg data sts may b so subtl tat only sopis-

ticatd statistical analysis can rval tm; complx pattrns may nvrtlss b

apprndd quickly and asily wn columns o numbrs ar translatd into visual

orms, as wit MRI scans. Vrbal pattrns may b discrnd troug t clos rad-

ing o a singl txtual passag or graspd troug yprrading o an ntir txt or

many txts. An ancdot may b usul in clariying t natur o pattrn. I onctook a pottry class, and t instructor askd ac participant to mak svral objcts

tat would constitut a sris. T sris migt, or xampl, consist o vass wit

t sam saps but dirnt sizs, or it migt b vass o t sam siz in wic t

saps undrwnt a consistnt st o dormations. T xampl sows tat dir-

ncs ar as important as similaritis, or ty kp a pattrn rom bing mrly a s-

ris o idntical itms. I tror propos t ollowing dnition: a pattrn consists

o rgularitis tat appar troug a sris o rlatd dirncs and similaritis.

Rlatd to t ida o pattrn is t qustion o maning. Sinc ntir books av

bn writtn on t subjct, I will not attmpt to dn maning but mrly obsrv

tat wrvr and owvr it occurs, maning is snsitivly dpndnt on contxt.T sam sntnc, uttrd in two dirnt contxts, may man somting ntirly

dirnt in on compard wit t otr. Clos rading typically occurs in a mono-

local contxt (tat is, wit a singl txt). hr t contxt is quit ric, including t

ntir txt and otr txts connctd wit it troug ntworks o allusions, citations,

and itrativ quotations. hyprrading, by contrast, typically occurs in a multilocal

contxt. Bcaus many txtual ragmnts ar juxtaposd, contxt is truncatd, otn

consisting o a singl pras or sntnc, as in aGooglesarc. In macin rading,t contxt may b limitd to a w words or liminatd altogtr, as in a word-


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N. Katrin hayls

rquncy list. Rlativly contxt-poor, macin rading is nricd by contxt-ric

clos rading wn clos rading provids guidanc or t construction o algo-

ritms; Margart Con points to tis synrgy wn s obsrvs tat or computr

programs to b dsignd, t pattrns still nd to b obsrvd [by clos rading]

(59). On t otr and, macin rading may rval pattrns ovrlookd in clos

rading, a point Willard McCarty maks in rlation to is work on prsonicationin OvidsMetamorphosis(5372). T mor t mpasis alls on pattrn (as in ma-cin rading), t mor likly it is tat contxt must b supplid rom outsid (by

a uman intrprtr) to connct pattrn wit maning; t mor t mpasis alls

on maning (as in clos rading), t mor pattrn assums a subordinat rol. In

gnral, t dirnt distributions btwn pattrn, maning, and contxt provid a

way to tink about intrrlations btwn clos, ypr, and macin rading.

T largr point is tat clos, ypr, and macin rading ac av distinctiv

advantags and limitations; nvrtlss, ty also ovrlap and can b mad to intr-

act synrgistically wit on anotr. Maryann Wol racs a similar conclusion

wn, at t nd oProust and the Squid, s writs,

W must tac our cildrn to b bitxtual or multitxtual, abl to rad and analyztxts xibly in dirnt ways, wit mor dlibrat instruction at vry stag odvlopmnt on t inrntial, dmanding aspcts o any txt. acing cildrnto uncovr t invisibl world tat rsids in writtn words nds to b bot xplicitand part o a dialogu btwn larnr and tacr, i w ar to promot t pro-csss tat lad to ully ormd xprt rading in our citiznry. (226)

I agr wolartdly wit t goal: t qustion is ow, prcisly, to accomplis it?

Synergies between Close, Hyper-, and Machine Reading

Starting rom a traditional umanistic basis in litratur, Alan Liu in t englis d-

partmnt at t Univrsity o Caliornia, Santa Barbara, as bn tacing undrgradu-

at and graduat courss tat calls Litratur+, wic adopt as a pdagogical mtod

t intrdisciplinarity acilitatd by digital mdia. h asks studnts to coos a litrary

work and trat it according to on or mor o t rsarc paradigms prvalnt in otr

lds o study, including visualization, storyboarding, simulation, and gam dsign.

Starting wit clos rading, ncourags studnts to compar it wit mtodologis

in otr lds, including t scincs and nginring. h also as constructd a tool

kit on is Wb sit tat includs links to sotwar packags nabling studnts wit

littl or no programming xprinc to crat dirnt mods o rprsntation o litr-

ary txts, including tools or txt analysis, visualization, mapping, and social-ntworkdiagramming. T approac is trold: it ors studnts traditional litrary training;

it xpands tir sns o ow ty can us digital mdia to analyz litrary txts; and it

ncourags tm to connct litrary mtodologis wit tos o otr lds ty may

b ntring. It ors clos rading not as an unqustiond good but as on mtodol-

ogy among svral, wit distinctiv capabilitis and limitations. Morovr, bcaus d-

cisions about ow to ncod and analyz txts using sotwar programs rquir prcis

tinking about prioritis, goals, and mtodologis, it claris t assumptions tat

undrgird clos rading by translating tm into algoritmic analysis.


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N. Katrin hayls

An xampl o ow t Litratur+ approac works in practic is t projct

ntitld Romeo and Juliet: AFacebookragdy (Skura, Nirl, and Gin). Trstudnts working collaborativly adaptd Sakspars play to t Facebookmodl,crating maps o social ntworks using t Frind Wl (naturally, t Montagus

ar all rinds to ac otr, and so ar t Capults), lling out prols or t

caractrs (Romo is intrprtd as a dprssiv prsonality wo as an obsssiv at-tacmnt to is lov objct and wo as corrsponding prrncs or music, lms,

and otr cultural artiacts tat xprss tis snsibility), and aving a gt brak

out on t mssag-board orum using a Group calld T Strts o Vrona. T

Wall atur was usd to incorporat dialogu in wic caractrs spak dirctly to

on anotr, and t Potos sction allowd on caractr to commnt on t at-

tributs o anotr. T masqu at wic Romo and Julit mt bcam an evnt,

to wic Capult invitd rinds in is Frind Wl. From a pdagogical point o

viw, t studnts wr ncouragd to us sotwar wit wic ty wr amiliar

in unamiliar ways, tus incrasing tir awarnss o its implications. T xrcis

also rquird tm to mak intrprtiv judgmnts about wic aturs o t play

wr most ssntial (sinc not vryting could b includd) and to b prcis about

intractions btwn rlationsips, vnts, and caractrs. Linking traditional litr-

ary rading skills wit digital ncoding and analysis, t Litratur+ approac

strngtns t ability to undrstand complx litratur at t sam tim it ncour-

ags studnts to tink rctivly on digital capabilitis. hr digital and print lit-

racis mutually rinorc and xtnd ac otr.

Lv Manovics Cultural Analytics is a sris o projcts tat starts rom t

prmis tat algoritmic analyss o larg data sts (up to svral trabyts in siz),

originally dvlopd or work in t scincs and social scincs, sould b applid to

cultural objcts, including t analysis o ral-tim data ows. In many acadmic in-

stitutions, ig-nd computational acilitis av programs tat invit aculty mm-brs and graduat studnts in t arts and umanitis to us tm. For xampl,

at t Univrsity o Caliornia, San Digo, wr Manovic tacs, t Supr-

computr Cntr sponsord a summr worksop in 2006, Cybrinrastructur or

t humanitis, Arts, and Social Scincs. At Duk Univrsity, wr I tac, t

Rnaissanc Computing Institut (ReNCI) ors accounts to aculty mmbrs and

studnts in t arts and umanitis tat allow tm to us computationally intns

analysis. In my xprinc, rsarcrs at ts kinds o acilitis ar dligtd wn

umanists com to tm wit projcts. Bcaus tir mission is to ncourag wid-

sprad us across and among campuss and to ostr collaborations among acadmic,

govrnmnt, corporat, and community stakoldrs, ty s umanistic inquiryand artistic cration as missing parts o t pictur tat nric t mix. Tis opns

t door to analysis o larg cultural data sts suc as visual imags, mdia contnt,

and gospatial mapping combind wit various istorical and cultural ovrlays.

An xampl is Manovics analysis oimemagazin covrs rom 192389. AsManovic obsrvs, idal sits or cultural analytics ar larg data sts tat ar wll

structurd and includ mtadata about dat, publication vnu, and so ort. T

visualization tools tat uss allow t imecovrs to b analyzd according tosubjct (or xampl, portraits vrsus otr typs o covrs), color gradints, black-


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N. Katrin hayls

and-wit gradints, amount o wit spac, and in otr ways. On atur is par-

ticularly usul or building bridgs btwn clos rading and macin analysis:

t visualization tool allows t usr bot to s larg-scal pattrns and to zoom in

to s a particular covr in dtail, tus nabling analyss across multipl scal lvls.

Otr xampls includ Manovics analysis o on million manga pags using t

Modrian sotwar, sortd according to gray-scal valus; anotr projct analyzsscn lngts and gray scal valus in classic black-and-wit lms. Wil larg- scal

data analyss ar not nw, tir applications in t umanitis and arts ar still in

tir inancy, making cultural analytics a rontir o knowldg construction.

O cours, not vryon as accss to computation-intnsiv acilitis, including

most parnts and tacrs at smallr collgs and univrsitis. A small-scal xampl

tat anyon could implmnt will b lpul. In tacing an onors writing class, Ijuxtaposd Mary Sllys Frankenstein wit Slly Jacksons Patchwork Girl, an lc-

tronic yprtxt ction writtn in propritaryStoryspacesotwar. Sinc ts wronors studnts, many o tm ad alrady rad Frankenstein and wr, morovr,practicd in clos rading and litrary analysis. Wn it cam to digital rading, ow-

vr, ty wr accustomd to t scanning and ast skimming typical o yprrad-

ing; ty tror xpctd tat it migt tak tm, o, al an our to go troug

Jacksons txt. Ty wr sockd wn I told tm a rasonabl tim to spnd wit

Jacksons txt was about t tim it would tak tm to rad Frankenstein, say, tnours or so. I dividd tm into tams and assignd a sction o Jacksons txt to ac

tam, tlling tm tat I wantd tm to discovr allt lxias (i.., blocks o digitaltxt) in tir sction and warning tm tat t Storyspacesotwar allows crtain lx-ias to b iddn until otrs ar rad. Finally, I askd tm to diagram intrrlations

btwn lxias, drawing on all tr viws tat t Storyspacesotwar nabls.As a consqunc, t studnts wr not only rquird to rad closly but also to

analyz t narrativ stratgis Jackson uss to construct r txt. Jackson ocusssom o r txtual sctions on a narrator modld on t mal cratur dpictd

in Frankenstein, wn Victor, at t mal craturs rqust, bgins to assmbl amal body as a companion to is rst cration (hayls, Invntion). As Victor

works, bgins to tink about t two craturs mating and crating a rac o

suc craturs. Strickn wit sxual nausa, tars up t mal body wil t

mal cratur watcs, owling, rom t window; trows t pics into a baskt;

and rows out onto a lak, wr dumps tm. In r txt Jackson rassmbls

and ranimats t mal cratur, playing wit t ida o ragmntation as an

inscapabl condition not only or r narrator but or all uman bings. T ida is

rinorcd by t visual orm o t narrativ, wic (in t Storyspacemap viw) isvisualizd as a sris o titld txt blocks connctd by wbs o lins. Juxtaposing tis

txt wit Frankenstein ncouragd discussions about narrativ raming, transitions,stratgis, and caractrization. By t nd t studnts, wo alrady admird Fran-kenstein and wr ntralld by Mary Sllys narrativ, wr abl to s tat lc-tronic litratur migt b comparably complx and would also rpay clos attntion

to its stratgis, structur, orm, rtoric, and tms. hr alrady-xisting print

litracis wr nlistd to promot and xtnd digital litracy.


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N. Katrin hayls

Ts xampls mrly scratc t surac o wat can b don to crat productiv

intractions btwn clos, ypr, and macin rading. Clos and yprrading ar al-

rady part o a litrary scolars tool kit (altoug yprrading may not b rcognizd

or valud as suc). Many good programs ar now availabl or macin rading, suc

as Wordle, wic crats word clouds to display word-rquncy analysis, t advancd

vrsion o t Hermetic Word Frequency Counter, wic as t ability to count wordsin multipl ls and to count prass as wll as words, and otr txt-analysis toolsavailabl troug t APoR txt-analysis portal (ttp://digitalrsarctools .pbworks

.com/xt+Analysis+ools). Most o ts programs ar not difcult to us and provid

t basis or wid-ranging xprimntation by studnts and tacrs alik. As Manovic

says about cultural analytics and Mortti proclaims about distant rading, macin

analysis opns t door to nw kinds o discovris tat wr not possibl bor and

tat can surpris and intrigu scolars accustomd to t dligts o clos rading.

Wat transormd disciplinary cornc migt litrary studis mbrac? hr is a

suggstion: litrary studis tacs litracis across a rang o mdia orms, including print

and digital, and ocuss on intrprtation and analysis o pattrns, maning, and contxt

troug clos, ypr-, and macin rading practics. Rading as always bn consti-

tutd troug complx and divrs practics. Now it is tim to rtink wat rading is

and ow it works in t ric mixturs o words and imags, sounds and animations,

grapics and lttrs tat constitut t nvironmnts o twnty-rst-cntury litracis.

Note

1. Rsarcrs in t ld o attntion studis idntiy tr major typs o attntion: controlldattntion, capabl o bing ocusd troug conscious ort ; stimulus-drivn attntion, a mod o at-tntivnss involuntarily attractd by nvironmntal vnts, suc a s a loud nois; and arousal, a gnrallvl o alrtnss (s Klingbrg 21 or a summary). In ts trms, dp attntion is a subst o controlldattntion, and yprattntion bridgs controlld and stimulus-drivn attntion.

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