Wampum and Avatar
Reading about Hypertext and Wampum Belts this week was interesting. I’ve always been fascinated with the way people of the past communicated. The texts names several different ways of communication they would use through Hypertext like the Egyptians using hieroglyphics. One thing that really sparked my interest is how Wampum Belts are made. The concept sort of reminds me of something from the Avatar movies. According to “Wampum as Hypertext” written by Angela Haas. She states: “the beads and stringing technologies could be represented as o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o. Or strands of wampum code that when strung together communicate information to their “reader.”
In Avatar, the Navi have these strings with beads on it called Song Cords. The beads that are woven into the threads of each Navi’s Song Cord is unique to each Navi. The beads that are on the cord represent a memorable moment in a Navi’s life! Each bead can translate into words or phrases similar to Wampum Belts. It is another version of Hypertext, though this one is fictional. The Navi can use the cord to sing the songs of one of their people’s lives, hence why they name them song cords. The similarity of the two made me excited! Because I could nerd out a little about the similarity, while also learning that Song Cords are a form of Hypertext!
Digital Rhetoric Returns
Also while reading this assignment, the concept of “digital rhetoric,” came up again. This time it had a different definition; it was more literal. Even though thinking about the term makes my head spin. The way the author described this version of digital rhetoric made it less so. The text states: “…texts employ digital rhetoric to communicate their nonlinear information. To explain, “digital” refers to our fingers, our digits, one of the primary ways (along with our ears and eyes) through which we make sense of the world and with which we write.” This same take was discussed with in last class when we were dissecting the meaning of the two words. I like the fact that by this definition everything we do with our hands could be considered rhetoric!
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