Identity, Collaboration and Performance By Marsh Soules

This inaugural issue of Fingerprints is a collaborative production in which the contributors reflect on the themes of identity, hypertext and online communication. Most of them are new to online communication and this brings a spirit of discovery and honest inquiry to their writing. One of their projects was to delve into the critical theories related to hypertext, and for this their primary source was George Landow's Hypertext: The Convergence of Critical Theory and Technology (1992). They were encouraged to keep their writing accessible, so the tension between Landow's academic style of discourse with its disciplinary codes, and their own desire to communicate with their peers animates the essays on hypertext.

We made some fascinating discoveries about writing online. We often discussed the importance of narrative in the persistence of memory. A number of the contributors explore the durability of certain narratives, and the importance of orality in the transition from print to electronic texts.

Rome 1995 / In With the Old / M. Soules

The constraints of machine language and programming code, and the need to learn new software, threaten to over-determine our online writing. There can be too many logics to follow. It thus seems important to encourage individuals to develop their own voices within this matrix of constraints. Like jazz musicians, online writers are working on technique, learning their instruments, and searching for that unique voice. Improvisation in jazz, as in acting, is a performance style which models the balance of collaboration and individual performance, the group voice with individual expression. For a more detailed discussion of this topic see Protocols of Improvisation and Online Communication.

The theme of online identity emerged through a dialogue on the English 290 newsgroup. The convergence of technology and critical theory provoked considerable self-reflection on the ways in which we communicate identity to one another, and in the ways we see ourselves reflected. It is thus a conscious strategy in much of this writing to allow the question of identity and point of view to ground the critical thinking and research necessary for conscientious writing. We were all learning more about ourselves, and we discovered how powerful a technology online writing can be when it is applied to collaborative projects such as this one.

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