Pressman writes in her essay “Navigating Electronic Literature” that navigation is a very strong characteristic of elit. One approach of navigation is hypertext.
Then I read Twelve Blue by Michael Joyce to experience hypertext on my own.
Every time I read it, it is different from the previous version. Different hyper links lead to different story lines and I never know where the hyper link is going to take me. On the left, there are twelve lines, sometimes go parallel, sometimes intersect. Every inch of the picture can be clicked and then you are in a different section. Sometimes the plot is consistent, sometimes it ends abruptly without any hyperlink on the page.
The color “blue” seems to be the core image of this work. The web page is blue, the words and phrases are blue, the word “blue” appears many times in the text. Also, blue plays an important role as emotion of the characters. Blue is sadness, or a mysterious impression, or a dim thought… I cannot tell which kind of blue the story tries to present. This work makes me feel dizzy and confused.
These stories take place in Canada but there are many exotic elements such as the Chinese poet Li Bo, a Portuguese lover, and the US. These stories are told in third person narrative in a peaceful tone, like memorizing some household things. Nevertheless, I can see harassment, murder, death, lust, unhealthy childhood, etc. Underneath the clear blue water is darkness.
The story also makes me think of one’s roles in life. A woman is a daughter, a mother, a wife, a lover, and a farmer. She can also be a murderer or lifesaver. One can have so many roles in one’s life but with great balance among them. Everything changes and evolves, like the myterious hyperlinks in the story. “He loved his wife once”, “her father died”, both divorce and death can cause the change of one’s roles. What are my roles in my life? I’m a woman, a daughter, a student, a helpful person, an indifferent person, a writer, a customer… Life is as complex as spider web but five hours ago I still thought life is simple.
“Life is hard as coal.” This is a quote from the story. Everyone in the story seems to be helpless and drifting in fate, regardless of their occupations. They seek for and enjoy themselves in little happiness that appears from time to time, like sparks burst on coal. This is what life feels like.
Red Cloud 