March 23, 2012

Crime, Hypertext, and Punishment

In "Hypertext and Critical Theory" Bahktin is quoted on the polyphonic, dialogic, multivocal novel, saying "[it] is constructed not as a whole of a single consciousness, absorbing other consciousnesses as objects into itself, but as a whole formed by the interaction of several consciousnesses, none of which entirely becomes an object for the other." He then cites Dostoevsky as an example of a "hypertextual fiction in which the individual voices take the form of lexias."  I think that Crime and Punishment is useful when making the connection between hypertextuality  in the form of a novel and hypertext in digital media. In a bar scene in Crime and Punishment the protagonist, Raskolnikov, listens to an alcoholic tell of his problems with poverty, which includes selling his daughter into prostitution to support his habit. The voice of this man, Marmeladov, does not come across as a product of the author's consciousness being absorbed by the protagonist, but as a separate entity, used to function as an individual voice. While this voice alone does belong to what I would call the "St. Petersburg" speech genre, it does not act as an sound object for Raskolnikov's ears alone. It seems to exist as its own life force, and I must add that this was one of the first moments in literature I began to pity the struggles of poverty.

So now I will go to the crime and punishment of the ladies in Daniel's online hypertext. While the form is non-linear in comparison to the novel, meaning you can pick and choose voices to listen to in no particular order or form, the polyphonic, multivocal aspect of the novel is present. The women in the prison system are real, which makes their voices  much more powerful. There is not a unified consciousness on the site, nor merely personas represented as intertwined objects. You find, instead conscious objects (subjects) like the character of Marmeledov. Each one gives an independent account of their life, their oppression, and in many cases, their addictions. I think the Daniels site is effective in this regard, because the more human the voice, the more likely it is that the reader will make an empathetic connection with individuals who are isolated from society, in many cases, unjustly.

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