An Analysis
I focused in on the concept of memory. The four personal fictitious narratives are focused on a geopolitical scale. Much like Castillo's novel, which focuses in on bits and pieces of fragmented memory, which later forms a bigger picture, I tried to encompass the style to become the basis of my own hypertext.
The narratives are centered around the concept of memory. For this reason, they are fragmented, much like the concept of memory is. Each narrative encompasses a certain feature exclusive to itself:
New York--a struggling actress (later we find out that she is a runaway), who writes in a type of journal.
Kenya--a woman who deals with the very controversial act of female genital mutilation. She recalls her feelings and physical state as a child.
Bosnia--this is a compilation from Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. It's a personal narrative of a woman who was raped.
Afghanistan--the idea of oppression. The woman keeps on blaming things on "you." She talks about the death of her family and the underlying message is the death of herself (her spirit).
Purposely, I did not give very much personal information of the women charactes in the narratives (age, physical characteristics, etc). This was so that the reader would be able to form their own vision of each character.
Each woman had their own style of "writing" or recalling memory:
New York--diary style. She writes on random days, weeks, etc. It isn't until the last page where the reader finds out her situation: she is begging on the streets and that she is a runaway.
Kenya--scattered with a heart in the middle. This is a symbol of her vagina. This is more graphic and it is supposed to entail memory as a violent and painful aspect. The heart in the background is really supposed to be a symbol for something she lost (heartbreak) and is also a symbolism for blood.
Bosnia--country scene. It's a cheery kind of template, in contrast to the woman's harsh story. It is borrowed from The Vagina Monologues and plays with the contrasting memory: her home (vagina) and then the violence and destruction of it (her rape).
Afghanistan--the style is supposed to be haunting. I spent most of my time and energy on this one because I feel like in today's day and time, it's the most pertinent. Each page has a trail of text, which is supposed to follow the reader's mouse. The woman's narrative keeps on talking to the reader as "you," and this in conjunction with the blending of the texts from page to page is supposed to create a haunting effect. It is recalling the concept of memory as something which is constant.
All the narratives were at the end tied together with a quote from Thomas Paine. It is to tie their meomories together to one underlying theme: the hope that these women emulate, and their position.
I've built in a lot of different nodes in which the reader has a broad array of ways to navigate through the narratives. I made sure that their is a way for the reader to easily get to the the homepage, the main country page and the current first page of the country that they are viewing. The arrangement and outcome is solely in the hands of the reader.
Over the past ten weeks, hypertext has opened my eyes at all the creative ways that one can express their work. This project became like a game to me. I wanted to finish x amount of pages every night. No matter how long it took me, I had to finish whatever I was was working on for the website. It became like some sort of sick addiction.
I am very sure that the webpage is going to mean much more to me than the reader. If the reader gets no satisfaction from the website, there is really nothing that I can do. This theme came up throughout our class all quarter: what about the satisfaction of the reader?
After making this website and investing so much time and energy into it...I say that I really don't care. It was made for enjoyment, information and most importantly, just simple understanding. The website brought me much pleasure just creating it. It's up to the reader to decide if they like it or not.
a lot closer
to my computer.
A World Neglected has many meanings. The ambiguity of the title's multiple meanings is what I wanted to first shape the beginnings of the hyptertext.
The point is for the reader to make their own conclusions about what this "world neglected" really is.
The point is for the reader to decipher if the title is to describe the world of the women, or the own views and thoughts of the reader's.
The same view that the reader has going into the hypertext may not be the same as they have when they finish reading the hypertext.
It's in relation to memory, the primary theme in this website, because memory may not be the same to everyone, and memory is always changing: fragments here, bits there, to form one whole picture.
Memory is ambiguous, memory is changing, as is the meaning of the title of this website and the personal narratives included within.
Hopefully the reader's thoughts are the same about the contents of the website.
I used a free server for my website. I do admit, the pop-up ads are quite annoying and are not a part of the site whatsoever. Sorry for this inconvenience.