Antiwar or Proterrorism?- Rita Raley

Rita Raley’s description of persuasive war games in Tactical Media raises inquiries regarding the extent to which a game can be considered persuasive and political or a threat to national security. She exemplifies antiwar games as a form or persuasive videogames that “advocate for social change” through procedural rhetoric (“they way that a videogame embodies ideology in its computational structure”) that indicates the limits and downfalls of war (Raley 85-86). For instance, the persuasive game September 12 demonstrates that aerial bombing creates more terrorists and enemies as innocent civilians are often killed in the process of eliminating terrorists; friends and family of the innocent victims then become terrorists to fight against those who wrongfully killed their loved ones (Raley 86-87). Due to the fact that the game cannot be won or lost, September 12 evokes a clear antiwar message by indicating that there is no positive end to war, yet more problems are created by engaging in warfare.

In contrast, games such as Battlefield 2 can be juxtaposed against antiwar games such as September 12 in the sense that Battlefield 2 “allows players to switch sides” and portrays the United States as the enemy (Raley 74). Several other controversial games allow players to learn about the various functions of operating aircrafts and eventually let players hijack airplanes (Raley 73).  These games, in contradiction to antiwar games, do not spread an antiwar message but one that is pro war from the point of view of the enemy. Raley indicates that games in which the player acts as the terrorist intend to portray “sympathy and identification” so that the player can identify and sympathize with the opposing party (Raley 78). While the intent of such games may be to evoke sympathy, Raley points out that “Representation, or in this case simulation, paves the way for real experience” (Raley 78). In other words, at what point does the simulation of terrorism become reality?

While persuasive videogames aim to evoke a powerful political message through the use of visual and procedural rhetoric, games in which the player acts as the enemy use procedural rhetoric in the sense that users are actually embodying the terrorists in order to sympathize with the character. However, this form of procedural rhetoric calls into question the extent to which players are sympathizing with the characters or actually thinking as the enemy. If players embody the enemy in thought and action, it poses a threat to our national security. These games seem not to spread a political message but the sympathy of terrorists appears to endorse, condone, and even promote terrorism. It is one thing to promote an antiwar message, yet when a videogame attempts to sympathize with the enemy, at what point is it considered a threat to America?

The Purpose of Abusive Video Games

Two questions were pointedly raised when reading Douglas Wilson and Miguel Sicart’s article, “Now It’s Personal: On Abusive Game Design.” The first question elicited is as follows: what is the rhetoric or intent of the designer when creating abusive games? Wilson and Sicart propose that abusive videogames engage in a “dialogic interplay between player and designer” (Wilson and Sicart 3). While most video games segregate the player from the designer, as users interact with a system instead of a designer, abusive videogames forge a relationship between the creator and player through techniques that make the designer visible. As with authors, designers of videogames are hidden in the sense that they “’won’t be there to explain [the meaning] to each and every player’” (Wilson and Sicart 2). One theory provided regarding the intent of abusive game designers is that they want to create a relationship between the user and the designer—possibly for recognition as the creator and to more effectively communicate their message to the user.

Additionally, Wilson and Sicart claim that designers intend to invoke power over abusive game users by forcing players to submit to their manipulations, lies, tricks, and seemingly impossible challenges. Instead of using power as a means of the game to motivate users with rewards, abusive game designers use power to “[encourage] players to focus on the human designer” rather than on the game system (Wilson and Sicart 6). Such designers utilize power over players by forming a relationship with users and forcing them to recognize the design. According to Wilson and Sicart, “Power is only productive in a dialogue” when the users recognize the power a designer yields over them (Wilson and Sicart 6). Abusive video games force players to acknowledge the designer as designers make purposefully choices—such as visual discomfort, emotional discomfort, sensory discomfort, lying, manipulation, impossible challenges, etc…—that frustrate players, causing them to consider the designer’s intent and the reason they are enduring such games. By continuing to play abusive games, players recognize, acknowledge, and submit to the power abusive games designers have over them.

The interplay of power in abusive videogames yields the question of why users continue to play such abusive games that seem utterly impossible or downright tormenting. Generally, videogames are structured around the principle of “lusory attitude” where the games seek to satisfy user needs and reward players for their interaction (Wilson and Sicart 2). Conversely, abusive videogames offer limited, if any, rewards as players are challenged beyond physical capability and frustrated with manipulations, emotional distress, and visual irritations. However, it is evident that players continue to engage in such games because they offer a “’…glimmer of hope that it is possible’” to complete the game successfully (Wilson and Sicart 7). Abusive game designers purposefully give players hope that they can succeed and overcome challenges even when such challenges are impossible. Such hope drives players to continually struggle through the game, ultimately receiving nothing for their endeavors. While it is evident why abusive game designers choose to create such games—as they invoke power over users and are revealed through games in which designers are typically hidden—, it is still unclear why users continue to purchase and interact with games that serve no satisfactory purpose and do not fulfill user needs.

 

Tactical Media as a form of Political Dysfunction

Rita Raley’s description of tactical media simulates Marie-Laure Ryan’s concept of dysfunctionality in “Between Play and Politics: Dysfunctionality in Digital Art.” Raley offers several definitions or conceptions regarding tactical media. First and foremost, “tactical media signifies the intervention and disruption of a dominant semiotic regime, the temporary creation of a situation in which signs, messages, and narratives are set into play and critical thinking becomes possible” (Raley 6). Works of tactical media are created to disturb, question, and momentarily corrupt an alternate form of media that demonstrates principles with which tactical media creators vehemently disagree; such creations are used as a means of critique and provocation of thought regarding a social change that tactical media attempts to re-examine. Tactical media is meant to “present a challenge to ‘the existing semiotic regime by replicating and redeploying it,’” forcing viewers to react to and engage in such social change (Raley 7). Raley’s explanation that tactical media disrupts other media forms complies with Ryan’s theory that dysfunctionality seeks to interrupt technology by using such technology for disparate purposes other than that which the equipment was created.

Ryan provides an example of a politically dysfunctional technology called the Image Fugurator, which distorts other camera’s pictures by implementing political text into the photos. The Critical Arts Ensemble (CAE) states that their goal in such dysfunctional acts is to “exercise electronic resistance to the governmental and corporate forms of power that rule capitalist society by attacking the database maintained by these institutions” (Ryan 2- put hyperlink). Similarly, the CAE determines the purpose of tactical media as “’offering participants a new way of seeing, understanding and interacting’ with ‘[the invention of] new spheres of reference…to open the way to a reappropriation and a resymbolization of the use of communication and information tools…’” (Raley 8). Tactical media can be viewed as a form of politically dysfunctional technology that aims to disrupt social institutions by which society is constrained and to offer alternate views of thinking about such societal norms.

Raley demonstrates that society has been interpolated—the recognition of being restricted by societal norms—by various societal ideological state apparatuses (ISA) that confine and constrain society. Tactical media thus serves to question and even break such interpolation by making ISAs powerless. For instance, Ubermorgen designed a piece of tactical media that allowed users of Amazon to be able to pirate and disseminate copyrighted books (Raley 19). Amazon, a representation of a governmental ISA that defines the societal norm of capitalism and consumerism, was temporarily incapable of affecting or influencing society as this form of tactical media disrupted the purpose for which Amazon was created. Tactical media is not a form of arbitrary dysfunction, but serves to utilize such dysfunction as a tool to spread a political message and critique. While it is evident that tactical media succeeds in broadcasting a political message that forces viewers to re-examine social norms, the method by which they proliferate such information imposes and infringes upon the abilities and functionality of foundational organizations. Furthermore, does the end product of such infringement counteract the violation of others’ rights or do the means to achieving political activism corrupt the purpose and message?

Inanimate Alice- Technological Impediments

Kate Pullinger and Babel’s “Inanimate Alice: Episode One: China” acts as both a database and a narrative of an eight year old girl’s journey through life in the twenty-first century. This project functions as a database in that it is a collection of a young girl’s life through a compilation of images and text. Additionally, this creative work acts as a narrative due to the fact that there is a main character whose story is being relayed to an audience. The purpose of this piece is to expose the potential dangers of living in a digital era where communication, interactivity, and recreation take place solely in digital form or through technology. Pullinger and Babel utilize various rhetorical techniques of incorporating discordant sounds, fast-moving pictures, and disruption of the text in order to disclose the impending problems of using technology as the only source of interaction, communication, and pleasure.

The story begins with text revealing that the girl’s father is missing and the family—the girl and her mother and brother—set out to look for him. A cacophony of sounds emerges from the background as the audience attempts to read the text provided; sounds of yelling, beeping, and Asian music are dissonantly played together while the reader attempts to make meaning of the story, illustrating the various distractions provided by technology. In addition to the distraction of sound, the text begins to disappear and reappear on the screen as if there is a technological interruption or malfunction. The narration is influenced by the technology through which the text is displayed as well as by the author’s use of purposeful technological distractions to illustrate the various problems that arise with a reliance on technology. Images move quickly across the screen and even pile up on top of one another throughout the story, symbolizing the fast-moving pace of society and the resulting inability of technological users to focus on one task at a time.

Throughout the narration, the text shifts from real life problems—trying to find the father—and the girl’s use of technology—as if the two worlds cannot peacefully coexist together. The young girl is constantly interacting with her cell phone—which the users can also interact with as well—throughout the drive. Pullinger and Babel slowly reveal that the girl is reliant on technology when her mother instructs her to turn off her phone, yet she constantly thinks about how she would rather be using her phone than looking out the window where she believes nothing exciting will happen—as if entertainment can only be provided through the technological world and not the real world. As the girl uses her cell phone, internet dial up sounds and other various noises permeate the space and make the users feel as if they are interacting with the technology. The authors succeed in creating rhetoric through cacophonous and distracting sounds, fast-moving pictures, and other various interruptions to make the audience feel slightly frustrated by the many distractions, further demonstrating the meaning that technology often provides disruptions that hinder users from connecting with the outside world. However, it is ironic that the authors chose to demonstrate this principle—that the digital world imposes upon the real world—through a form of digital and participatory media with which the audience must interact to grasp the meaning. Although the irony is clearly presented, the significance of this piece would not be as effective in print or other mediums as the dissonant sounds, pictures, and distractions clearly exemplify the potential harm caused by technology.

Inanimate Alice- Technological Impediments

Kate Pullinger and Babel’s “Inanimate Alice: Episode One: China” acts as both a database and a narrative of an eight year old girl’s journey through life in the twenty-first century. This project functions as a database in that it is a collection of a young girl’s life through a compilation of images and text. Additionally, this creative work acts as a narrative due to the fact that there is a main character whose story is being relayed to an audience. The purpose of this piece is to expose the potential dangers of living in a digital era where communication, interactivity, and recreation take place solely in digital form or through technology. Pullinger and Babel utilize various rhetorical techniques of incorporating discordant sounds, fast-moving pictures, and disruption of the text in order to disclose the impending problems of using technology as the only source of interaction, communication, and pleasure. The story begins with text revealing that the girl’s father is missing and the family—the girl and her mother and brother—set out to look for him. A cacophony of sounds emerges from the background as the audience attempts to read the text provided; sounds of yelling, beeping, and Asian music are dissonantly played together while the reader attempts to make meaning of the story, illustrating the various distractions provided by technology. In addition to the distraction of sound, the text begins to disappear and reappear on the screen as if there is a technological interruption or malfunction. The narration is influenced by the technology through which the text is displayed as well as by the author’s use of purposeful technological distractions to illustrate the various problems that arise with a reliance on technology. Images move quickly across the screen and even pile up on top of one another throughout the story, symbolizing the fast-moving pace of society and the resulting inability of technological users to focus on one task at a time. Throughout the narration, the text shifts from real life problems—trying to find the father—and the girl’s use of technology—as if the two worlds cannot peacefully coexist together. The young girl is constantly interacting with her cell phone—which the users can also interact with as well—throughout the drive. Pullinger and Babel slowly reveal that the girl is reliant on technology when her mother instructs her to turn off her phone, yet she constantly thinks about how she would rather be using her phone than looking out the window where she believes nothing exciting will happen—as if entertainment can only be provided through the technological world and not the real world. As the girl uses her cell phone, internet dial up sounds and other various noises permeate the space and make the users feel as if they are interacting with the technology. The authors succeed in creating rhetoric through cacophonous and distracting sounds, fast-moving pictures, and other various interruptions to make the audience feel slightly frustrated by the many distractions, further demonstrating the meaning that technology often provides disruptions that hinder users from connecting with the outside world. However, it is ironic that the authors chose to demonstrate this principle—that the digital world imposes upon the real world—through a form of digital and participatory media with which the audience must interact to grasp the meaning. Although the irony is clearly presented, the significance of this piece would not be as effective in print or other mediums as the dissonant sounds, pictures, and distractions clearly exemplify the potential harm caused by technology.

What Constitutes as Literature?

The first major question that was brought to my attention through Nick Montfort’s article, “Interactive Fiction’s Fourth Era,” was what constitutes as literature? Webster’s dictionary defines literature as “writings in prose or verse; especially writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest” (Merriam-Webster). This definition made me ponder whether or not interactive fiction constitutes as literature. Many of the works of interactive fiction are, indeed, written in forms of prose and use various narrative techniques to tell a story or a plot. The difference between interactive fiction and literature in the traditional sense is that, in classic literature, the author narrates the story completely without reader interaction or input. In contrast, interactive fiction allows the “interactor”—or reader—to inform their own story and pattern of narration; the commands given by the “interactor” determine the computer’s narration, essentially indicating that the audience can determine rhetoric based on their choices (Montfort 2).

Interactive fiction affords possibilities that are impossible in print literature. While choose your own adventure books offer readers various decisions along their journey, interactive fiction allows the audience to view images that simulate real life experiences and incorporate personal text within the narration. Readers become a part of the story in a way that is unfeasible in traditional literature. Additionally, interactive fiction ensures that the reader is knowledgeable about the text before the “interactor” can proceed in the narration. Montfort states that progress can only be made “because the interactor, like one who solves a literary riddle, has deeply understood the working of this unusual world” and the text within (Montfort 5). The audience must read and comprehend the text before advancing in the storyline whereas readers of print literature can continue reading without understanding the textual content. Interactive fiction forces readers to explore and understand the text in ways that cannot be enforced in traditional literature.

The journey through interactive fiction ensures greater analysis and comprehension in order for the narration to continue. Furthermore, interactive fiction attempts to bridge the gap between literature and video games through a complex weaving of text, textual analysis, real-life simulation, and interactive role-playing. While Monfort realizes that interactive fiction does not produce the same level of in-depth textual analysis like traditional literature, he is optimistic about the future opportunities and progression of interactive literature as he believes it will be able to “[further develop]…the ability to narrate” (Montfort 7). If this form of digital media is continually developed, it will be able to bridge the gap between “the literary establishment, the art world, and academia,” creating the opportunity for many users to study and understand the capabilities of language through this digital medium (Montfort 7). In conclusion, interactive fiction can be viewed as a work of literature, yet its potential poses even greater possibilities in portraying text and narration through a literary lens.

Amor De Clarice- The Limitless Applications of Digital Media

Rui Torres’ “Amor De Clarice” demonstrates the limitations of printed media while simultaneously illustrating the boundless limits of digital media to recreate text. Excerpts from “Amor De Clarice” are exemplified as the hypotext in this piece of electronic literature. The hypotext is placed on a static background without movement. In contrast, the hypertext (links readers can click on that illustrate different poems), is extremely animated and interactive, exemplifying the seemingly endless possibilities digital media offers. Readers can click on the hypertext, whereas the hypotext remains stagnant. Audience members are shown that digital media can provide rhetoric and meaning of which printed media is incapable; the meaning of the text is strengthened by the digital platform as readers can connect with other perceptions (such as sound, moving pictures for visual illustration, color, etc…) that enhance the text that was once inactive.

Additionally, the hypotext is in the background while the hypertext overshadows the original text, illustrating a temporal representation of printed text as being improved upon by digital media. The hypertext moves back and forth across the page, inviting users to click on different poems. Each line represents a poem that links to a different video; the videos directly correlate to the poem’s message and act as a visual aid in understanding the text. Since individuals learn through sound, sight, and touch, electronic literature affords readers the ability to read, listen to, interact with, and visualize the text. The use of hypertext in this electronic literature illustrates the numerous ways in which digital media can enhance the rhetoric of literature. Readers can even alter the meaning of a poem by dragging lines of the poem into different locations on the screen. Although the poems’ rhetoric was originally evidenced through textual reading, readers can now understand the poem more deeply through the use of video, image, and sound; the videos and images of each poem represent and enhance the meaning while simultaneously creating new meaning.

While the poems are not written in English, the implication of digital media as a beneficial medium for electronic literature is evident. The original text is incomprehensible and concealed by the hypertext; it is laid on a dull background of gray and black, further indicating the limitations of printed media. In contrast, the hypertext allows users to interact with the text, clicking on poems that connect to images and reinforcing the meaning of such poems. The videos and images represented are colorful and active, representing the dynamic effect of literature through a digital platform. “Amor De Clarice” demonstrates the nature of process (as technology is always moving forward and is not static) and interactivity (as readers can click on different lines of text).  The ever-changing hypertext represents the process by which digital media enforces the creation and recreation of a text as the text is always changing to match the current technology.

Critical Response- “Hack the Cover”

Craig Mod’s article, “Hack the Cover,” demonstrates the theory of obsolescence in the sense that technology is often replaced by alternate forms of technology. In the case of the book cover, technology is currently replacing the once tangibility and marketability of the cover. While readers were once drawn in by the designs and unique typography of a book cover, Mod illustrates the conversion from buying books in a bookstore to buying them online; therefore, readers are no longer determining their book selection by the cover, but by the reviews offered online by other readers. The cover has, somewhat, lost significance in the audience’s decision to purchase a book and has, therefore, lost some of its rhetoric in marketing.

The cover is beginning to be perceived as unnecessary since many are reading books on digital platforms such as the Kindle. Although the cover was once a form of rhetorical marketing and protection for the text within the book, it has now become somewhat futile to design a book cover that will be read on the context of a digital platform. Covers have developed a new style of rhetoric; while they were once a form of advertisement, covers now speak a different rhetorical language—efficiency. They are not meant to attract or entice, but to “get us into the text as quickly as possible…[at] the expense of intimacy.” In essence, covers have lost their rhetorical ability to provide reader intimacy since the audience once connected with the design as a form of contextual revelation yet this option is slowly dying.

Mod poses several questions regarding the purpose and function of the cover. One question addressed is “how should the context be delivered?” The context should be, and once was, delivered through the cover as it subtly reveals and speaks to the content of the book. As “publishers [now] relinquish control when books go digital,” agency is also relinquished from the rhetorical strategy of the cover as it no longer converses with the context of the book. While society must embrace the ever-changing nature of technology, it cannot lose the once foundational elements in the process. Book covers are essential to the message of the text beyond the cover; they are “meant to ease the reader into the story…[and] help establish tone.” Covers help give a “book an identity” and by removing the cover from a book—whether in print or digital—we are removing a piece of the book’s identity and wholeness.

Creative Post- “Flight Paths”

“Flight Paths” (http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/pullinger_flightpaths/index.html) is a form of participatory media that allows the audience to not only interact with but create text for the project. It is a “networked novel” detailing the story of two lives both literally and figuratively colliding together. A man who is trying to escape Pakistan falls from a plane onto the car of a woman who is grocery shopping for her family. “Flight Path” describes the different paths that these two characters take (and their paths ultimately collide), yet alternatively illustrates and symbolizes the different paths the story can take based on the reader’s input. The authors include contact information in this series of stories where readers can send their own stories or memories to be added to the ongoing project.

This interactive project speaks to the theory that words constitute meaning through which reality is created. The message or the rhetoric of the piece changes based on the words audience members choose to add to the project. In essence, the audience creates the rhetoric or the meaning of this electronic literature through the stories they input. The authors compile reader’s stories into a coherent message of text, images, and sound for the audience to be fully engrossed in the rhetoric of the piece.

As this project details the narrative of the Pakistani immigrant, the design and music are somewhat dark and foreboding. The images are muted tones of grey, yellow, and black, illustrating the impending incidence. In the next scene, detailing the woman grocery shopping, the images are much brighter with vivid colors. The two stories slowly merge as the man’s text is on one side of the screen and the woman’s is on the other, demonstrating how their paths are about to cross. “Flight Path’s” authors show a proficient understanding in the use of text, sound, and images to create an overall tone, mood, or meaning for the piece as a whole. The rhetoric that is created by the incorporation of text, sound, and images illustrates the inevitability of human paths crossing and the different courses these encounters can take. Ultimately, the audience determines the rhetoric of this project by choosing the course of such encounters and determining the route each character takes.