Ho, Yue Jin "The Sinograph in Digital Language Art." PhD
, City University of Hong Kong, 2022
Keywords/Fields of Study : electronic literature, sinograph, affordance, hermeneutics, Chinese, kanji, digital language art, media art.
Abstract: This research aims to study digital works that are primarily built using Chinese characters or Japanese kanji and to identify the affordances of the sinographs through close readings of the works. Affordance refers to how one can make use of the properties of an object (Norman), while digital language art refers to any digital works with significant literary aspects, the forms of which can include kinetic poetry, media installation, art games, etc. Based on the premise that sinographs provide affordances for creating digital works that differ from other writing systems, this research will investigate how these unique affordances contribute to the meaning-making process of sinographic digital language art, which would in turn help us expand the scope of interpretation by taking into account both formal factors and cultural contents.
Developments in technology have generated opportunities for manipulating language in the digital environment. The possibilities afforded by these technologies have been applied in commercial products, and have furthermore been explored by artists, writers, and coders. Although theories have emerged for analyzing digital literature, most of them are not specific to any written language and were originally developed for works that use letter-based scripts, such as English.
A key reason why existing theories may not have adequately addressed the digital sinograph is their logographic nature, which allows sinographs to retain semantic values at the subcharacter level in the form of character components. This and other specificities of the sinograph could affect, for example, the division of readable and unreadable text (Simanowski) as well as the separation of textual and non-textual data (Aarseth).
This thesis aims to address this research gap through close readings, including translated works from Jim Andrews (Enigma n; Seattle Drift) and original works by Hung Keung (BCSL; Control Freak), Tatsuya Miyamoto (Geki), and Lien-cheng Wang (Shape Sound, Draw, Meaning). A list of affordances unique to sinographs in digital language art will be produced to demonstrate how sinographs can be utilized to create meanings and unique aesthetics in different cultural contexts. This research will answer the following questions: What are the digital specificities of the sinograph, and how do they influence both artists and readers in creating and receiving works? How do artists utilize the unique affordances of this non-alphabetical writing system in their creations? The answers to these questions will contribute to the growing body of work on sinographs in digital language art and facilitate further understanding and application.
Department: School of Creative Media
, City University of Hong Kong
Advisor(s): Daniel HOWE
