This text looks at the differences between writing / speech vs depiction. The author calls these two different forms of representation “modes”. The means for the distribution of these representations he calls “mediums”, i.e. books vs screens. (p.6/7).
He describes the differences between the two modes in the following way:
| Writing | Depiction |
| 1. chronological representation
2. fixed order is given by author, one entry point 3. conventional 4. finiteness of words 5. vagueness of words, must be interpreted, 6. transfers knowledge |
1. simultaneous, causal, spatial representation
2. open order designed by viewer, several possible entry points 3. revolutionary 4. infinity of pictures 5. pictures are precise, specific, full of meaning, though it is said to be neither solid nor clear (p.8) 6. transfers information, knowledge must be constructed by viewer |
Kress describes a new relationship between the modes of represenatation with the new media. The author no longer has authority over his writing. With a screen the reader can become author. The audience now needs to be considered in order to find the appropriate mode of representation. Design is increasingly important.
My thoughts:
I think the breaking up of the chronological is something that authors have been experimenting with for a while. Modernists at the beginning of the 20th century have been writing fiction with several entry points and postmodernists have been taking this to an extreme with experiments like cross-referencing, annotating, circular stories, fragmentation etc. As far as I know the idea of chronologically consistent writing is something that has been challenged over and over again.
Similarly the idea of combining writing with pictures goes back to the beginning of writing. To name just one example, William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience combine poems with pictures and one mode would not be complete without the other.
Certainly, new media gives many more opportunities to experiment with combinations of picture and writing/speech.
Kress, G (2005) Gains and losses: new forms of texts, knowledge and learning. Computers and Composition