Writing is a technology. Plato's Phaedrus is a classical reference that questioned the affordances of speech, writing, and rhetorics in a series of dialogues between Socrates and Phaedrus, an invented interlocutor to embody Plato's message in conversational form. In the conversation, Socrates regarded writing as a process alienating knowledge and soul from their essences; "Then he will not seriously incline to 'write' his thoughts 'in water' with pen and ink, sowing words which can neither speak for themselves nor teach the truth adequately to others?" metaphorically casted writing as a shallow, imperfect representation of knowledge and soul, profound and perfect in their essential Forms. Plato's critique towards writing is rooted in an idealist belief that all thoughts originated from the perfect Forms, and writing only produced an imperfect copy of thought, thus a twice mediated copy of a copy.
Writing as a technology is not only a concern for the plane of metaphysics, but carries a unique materialist trajectory. The technological advancements that weave together a set of infrastructures to facilatate written words continue to enrich and contest Plato's phonocentrism - a neologism refering to the superiority placed upon speech over writing. These advancements include more sophisticated techniques in paper production, and inventions that transformatively re-mediated writing processes, crudely put, typewriters and keyboard computers. As Matthew Kirschenbaum provided a grammatology of the hard drive as a storage device, writing technologies deserved a grammatological reading.
Does phonocentrism lead to ethnocentrism? The alphabet is a basis from which the written word is organized by sequentially putting together symbols that correspond to a word as spoken. Such phonocentric correlation is limited to alphabetically mediated writing cultures. As a public program, avant la lettre: media archaeology cn revolves around the culture and technology of Chinese written text, which is organized by visual pictograms. The program will take a look into how the technological developments made for circulating Chinese written text exist in relationship with their counterparts in the West, and how does the invention and usage of these writing technologies in turn condition the notion of race in a processual manner, rather than by definitive profiling with fixed parameters.
The program is curated with three topics, repectively titled Hardware and Software, Input / Output, and Publishing Surfaces. Hardware and Software takes a preliminary look into archival projects dedicated for hardwares and the softwares developed and adapted during unique timeframes. Input / Output zooms into an historical and anecdotal episode revolving around Chinese Input and Output technology, which, in predominant scenarios, translates alphabetical keyboard inputs to pictogram based characters. Finally, Publishing Surfaces leaps to the intermedia publishing practices that directly or subtly reflects materialities of Chinese written text.
“Input / Output” serves as both an opening statement and lays out a foundational apparatus for “avant la letter: media archaeology cn”. The panel invites two panelists, Zijie Li and Gehao Zhang, who both conduct research in Chinese input and output technology and materialize their output in the forms of theorization and publishing.
Zijie Li is an alternative comics maker, typographer and an activist. “Chinese Word Processor: writing, power, capital and technology” is an ongoing research that embodies Zijie’s interest in writing tools and writing environments. The work presents a narrative meandering through interwoven subjects and events: early entrepreneurial history of the Stone Typewriter as a piece of dusted public record; and the acclaimed novelist Wang Xiaobo’s relationship to Chinese text processing by the ways of his self-programmed text editor, and family relation to a relative who was involved in the Chinese text input business.
Gehao Zhang is an assistant professor in Macau University of Science and Technology. As a scholar in media archaeology, Gehao will lead us through a trajectory of Chinese text display development, as materialized by artifacts such as the analog Chinese typewriters and the hardware and software for digital Chinese text processing. Gehao will not only unravel a trajectory illustrated by rich material artifacts, but also lay out a interpretive framework coming from the most current theories from media archaeology.
Time:
Friday, March 12th 7:30 PM (Mountain Time)
Saturday, March 13th 10:30 AM (China Standard Time)
Hardware / Software will open up a series of overlaying mediations from hardware to software and vice versa, regarding to Chinese language input and output. The context of the program will provide a slightly more saturated field and elastic approach to reinterpret the German media theorist Friedrich Kittler's pronouncement: "There Is No Software". The eponymous article had departed from a materialist reading towards written text: written text no longer exists in time and space as can be directly perceived, but exist throughout a series of abstractions which will boil down voltage differences. As much as "There Is No Software" is provocative, the series of abstractions through which digitally written text is mediated are interlocking - from the word processor software to the operating system the software runs under, and from the input and output system the operating system runs under: WordPerfect < Microsoft DOS < BIOS.
Hardware / Software will revolve around two archival projects to re-contextualize the Kittler's materialist approach on digitally written text: "Computer museum in the web" by Peng'An Zhou, and "Archaeology of Education Computers" by Sid Zhang. Computer museum in the web will run demos of early hardware and operating systems that had Chinese text processing capability, such as UCDOS 7.0, SUBOR SB486, and BBGCDOS. Sid Zhang will introduce us to a kaleidoscopic range of models from "Archaeology of Education Computer", a video channel that Sid maintains on bilibili.com.
Panelists:
Pengan Zhou:
Pengan Zhou is a software developer as well as researcher and influencer of retro computing and related culture. When he was a student, he is an active member of Chinese PDA user group. He was relocated to Canada in 2009 then get in touch with demoscene and retro computing groups.
In 2016 he starts the “vintage computer room” writing project on Chinese Q&A social network Zhihu, which is the first Chinese column which focus on retro computing and related technology culture topics like demoscene, chip music, DIY and open source software and hardware.
In 2018 he builds the online computer museum “dnbwg.com”, which is the first Chinese website using web-based emulators to demonstrate how older computers systems working. Later this website also provides in-browser experience of early online system, for example CFido was the Chinese dial-up BBS network running in 1990s and InfoHighway is the very first ISP available to the public in China mainland.
Sid Zhang:
Sid, a retro game fan. As a user back to his childhood, he used to communicate with the manufacturers of “Education Computer (a Nintendo Famicom clone product)” in Mainland China and therefore he possesses some materials. His interests in this historically abandoned item got intensified as he grew up. As a vlogger of bilibili.com in his spare time, he will share his channel ‘Archaeology of Education Computer’, and the brief history of the development of this industry in China during the 1990s.
Time:
Friday, March 19th 8:30 PM (Mountain Time)
Saturday, March 20th 10:30 AM (China Standard Time)
As the prior two programs dealt with the processing of text, “Publishing Surfaces” will take us to the processing of interfaces. The program will center on the two intermedia novels published in the web interface, GRAMMATRON, and 10 Stories, respectively by the panelists Mark Amerika and Haoran Xu.
Created in 1997, GRAMMATRON was one of the major works in net art. The work consists of thousands of hyperlinked pages, containing text and visual web content. The hyperlinked structure provides the readers an open-ended reading experience, as they are able to determine their own reading paths.
10 Stories is a bilingual novel, consists of 10 stories that scrolls horizontally across the browser. As the stories are stacked vertically, they present themselves visible to the reader at one single interface. Various subtle features enabled the parallel scrolling and reading experience, such as the play with letter width, and signposts created in the reading interface.
The links leading to the works discussed in the program are: http://grammatron.com and https://xoesan.com/10stories/index.php
Panelists:
Mark Amerika:
Mark Amerika is a digital artist, cult novelist, film director, media theorist and web publisher. He is the author of many books, among them The Kafka Chronicles, Sexual Blood, and most recently a collection of artist writings, META/DATA: A Digital Poetics. His artwork has been exhibited in several national and international venues, including the Whitney Biennial, the Walker Art Center, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. His literary writing and artwork have been featured in Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, the Guardian, and CNN Headline News. He is a Professor of Distinction at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Founding Director of the Doctoral Program in Intermedia Art, Writing and Performance in CU’s College of Media, Communication and Information. More information can be found at his website, http://www.markamerika.com.
Haoran Xu
Haoran Xu, an amateurish enthusiast of film and sound art, currently working with the medium of websites.
"avant la lettre: media archaeology cn" is supported by a small grant and limited hours of operation. Since the main objective is to make space for "media media archaeolgy cn" in the English speaking community, the panel discussions will be conducted in English. While a panelist communicates in Mandarin, asynchronous interpretation will be provided.
Time:
Friday, March 26th 8:00 PM (Mountain Time)
Saturday, March 27th 10:00 AM (China Standard Time)
Venue: Join Zoom Meeting https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/91401536983
Meeting ID: 914 0153 6983 Passcode: lalettre
Join by SIP [email protected]
A publication will be editted and published to serve as archival documentation, including recording of the panel discussions translated to text, and further information shared by panelists on their work.
The program is generously supported by the MAL x Race and Technology Micro Grants, 2020-2021.
写作是一种技术。柏拉图的《斐德罗篇》是一个古典的例子。其中，在苏格拉底和斐德罗之间的一系列对话中，对语言、写作和修辞的承受能力提出了质疑，斐德罗是一个被发明的对话者，为了以对话的形式体现原作者柏拉图的信息。在对话中，苏格拉底将写作视为将知识和灵魂从本质上异化的过程，"那么他就不会认真地倾向于用笔墨将自己的思想'写在水里'，播撒既不能自圆其说，也不能将真理充分地教给别人的文字吗？"将写作隐喻为知识和灵魂的浅薄的、不完美的表现，深刻而完美的本质形式。柏拉图对写作的批判源于一种唯心主义的信念，即所有的思想都源于完美的形式，而写作只是产生了思想的不完美的复制品，因此是复制品的两次中介。
写作作为一种技术，不仅关注形而上学的平面，而且带有独特的唯物主义轨迹。技术进步编织了一套基础设施，使书面文字得以实现，不断丰富和挑战着柏拉图的语音中心主义--这是一个新词，指的是言语优于文字。这些进步包括更复杂的纸张生产技术，以及改变写作过程的发明，粗略地说是打字机和键盘计算机。正如Matthew Kirschenbaum为作为存储设备的硬盘提供了一个语法学，写作技术也应该得到一个语法学的解读。
语音中心主义是否会导致民族中心主义？字母表是一个基础，在这个基础上，通过依次拼凑出与口语中的一个词相对应的符号来组织书面语。这种语音中心主义的关联仅限于以字母为媒介的书写文化。作为一档公共节目，avant la lettre: 中文文字考古 围绕着以视觉象形文字组织的中国文字文化和技术展开。该项目将探讨中国书面文字的技术发展如何与西方同行的关系，以及这些书写技术的发明和使用如何以一种过程性的方式，而不是以固定的参数来确定种族的概念。
节目由三个主题策划，分别为输入/输出，硬件与软件、和出版界面。“输入/输出”则是围绕着中文输入和输出技术的历史和轶事，在主要的场景中，它将字母键盘输入转化为基于图形的字符。“硬件与软件”将初步探讨专门针对硬件的档案项目，以及在特定时间段内开发和调整的软件。最后，“出版界面” 跃进到直接或微妙地反映中文书面文本的物质性的媒介出版实践。
"输入/输出"是"avant la letter: 中文文字媒体考古"论坛的第一期讲座。输入/输出是对论坛的整体开题，也为论坛铺垫了基础的架构。这次讲座有幸邀请了两位对中文输入和显示技术有所研究的讲者，李子杰和章戈浩，他们分别在理论生产和出版领域工作。
李子杰是一个漫画家、印刷工作者和行动者。现进行中的研究计划《中文文字处理机:写作、权力、资本及技术》体现了李子杰对书写工具和书写环境的长期关注。这项计划展现了一张将具有不同主题和性质的事件的相互交织的叙事网络：如作为公众记忆的四通打字机早期创业史，和鲜为人知的个人历史，如王小波和中文文字的两项隐秘关联：由自己编写的文档编辑器，和他的一位日后从事中文输入法开发的亲戚。
章戈浩老师现任澳门科技大学的助理教授。作为一位媒体考古学学者，章老师将带我们走进中文显示的发展历史：例如早期中文机械打字机，和用于电子中文输入的硬件和软件。章老师的叙述不仅涵盖了对中文显示发展在物质方面的梳理，同时也将通过思辨性地吸收媒体考古学学科中前沿的理论，来建构对中文显示媒体的理论框架。
时间:
北京时间3月13日（周六）上午10:30
美国山地时间3月12日（周五）下午7:30
硬件/软件 “会更深入地关注中文文字处理的相关硬件与软件之间的的关系。这里讨论的内容将提供一个更细化和弹性的方法来重新解释德国媒体理论家费德里希 基特勒的声明--"没有软件”。基特勒的同名文章曾从物质主义的角度对书面文本作出解读：书面文本不再存在于可以直接感知的时间和空间中，而是存在于整个一系列的抽象中，这些抽象将归结为电压差。正如 "没有软件 “这篇文章中所说，以数字书写文本为媒介的一系列抽象是环环相扣的--从文字处理软件到软件所运行的操作系统，再到操作系统所运行的输入输出系统。WordPerfect < Microsoft DOS < BIOS.
硬件/软件将围绕两个线上的档案项目，重新诠释基特勒对于数字化文字的唯物主义解读，包括周鹏岸的 “网页里的电脑博物馆 "和汤圆的 “学习机考古”。“网页里的电脑博物馆 ”将展示早期中文文字处理功能是如何在例如UCDOS 7.0、小霸王SB486学习机、步步高操作系统等软硬件中实现的。电脑学习机考古 "是一个b站频道，汤圆将为大家介绍 “学习机考古 “频道中多样化的学习机模型。
讲者：
周蓬岸：
周蓬岸是一位软件工程师，同时也是复古计算及相关文化的研究者和传播者。在他的学生时期，曾经是中文PDA用户社群的活跃成员。他在2009年移居加拿大后接触到演示场景和复古计算团体。
在2016年他在中文问答社交网络知乎上启动了名为“古董电脑室”的写作计划，这是第一个专注于复古计算及相关文化现象，如演示场景、芯片音乐、DIY和开源软硬件的中文专栏。
在2018年他搭建了线上电脑博物馆dnbwg.com，是第一个是用基于网页的模拟器展示老式电脑运作的中文网站。稍后这一网站也提供在浏览器中体验老式在线系统的服务，比如1990年代的中文拨号BBS网络CFido，以及中国大陆最早向公众开放的互联网接入商瀛海威时空。
汤圆：
汤圆，怀旧游戏爱好者，因儿时作为国内电脑学习机用户曾与相关厂商有一些书信往来、保留了一些资料，后来随着年龄增长，渐渐培养出收集和研究这一行业的历史材料的兴趣爱好。作为一名B站up主，他将与我们分享他开办的“电脑学习机考古”频道，以及中国内地90年代的电脑学习机发展简史。
时间：
北京时间3月20日（周六）上午10:30
美国山地时间3月19日（周五）下午8:30
前两次的讨论都涉及了文字的处理，作为这次讨论会最后一个环节，“出版界面” 将关注界面的处理。这次讨论将围绕着两个在网页界面中写作和出版的跨媒体小说 "GRAMMATRON" 和《10个故事》展开，分别这次的讲者，Mark Amerika和徐浩然。
"GRAMMATRON"创作于1997年，是被记载在网络艺术史中重要作品之一。该作品由数千个有超链接连接而成网状页面组成，包含了文学和视觉内容。超链接的结构为读者提供了一种开放式的阅读体验，因为ta们能够决定自己的阅读路径。
《10个故事》是一个双语小说，它由10个故事组成，并浏览器中上水平滚动。同时，10个故事互相垂直堆叠，因此读者能同在一个界面上阅读这10个故事。作者设计了一些额外功能来实现使带有滚动视差的阅读体验，例如对文字宽度的宽度，以及在界面中设置的位置标记。
这次讨论的两个作品链接为：http://grammatron.com 和 https://xoesan.com/10stories/index.php
讲者：
Mark Amerika:
是一位数字艺术家、邪典小说家、电影导演、媒体理论家和网络出版人。他著有许多书，其中包括"The Kafka Chronicles", "Sexual Blood", 以及最近的一本艺术家著作集"META/DATA: A Digital Poetics"。他的艺术作品曾在多个国家和国际场所展出，包括惠特尼双年展、沃克艺术中心和伦敦当代艺术学院。他的文学创作和艺术作品曾在《时代》杂志、《纽约时报》、《华尔街日报》、《时代周报》（德国）、《卫报》和CNN头条新闻上发表。他是科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的杰出教授，也是媒体、传播和信息学院下跨媒体艺术、写作和表演博士项目的创始主任。更多信息可以在他的网站上找到，http://www.markamerika.com。
徐浩然:
徐浩然，电影和声音业余爱好者，目前基于网页和平面形式创作。
时间:
北京时间3月27日（周六）上午10:00
美国山地时间3月26日（周五）下午8:00
点击进入zoom视频会议 https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/91401536983
会议ID: 914 0153 6983 会议密码：lalettre
"avant la lettre: 中文文字媒体考古" 是通过一个微小的基金和有限的时间运作。因为主要目的是为中文媒体考古在英文社群中扩大空间，讲座通过英文进行。当讲者通过中文分享时，讲座会提供非共时的翻译。
A publication will be editted and published to serve as archival documentation, including recording of the panel discussions translated to text, and further information shared by panelists on their work.
本次活动得到了科罗拉多博尔德大学媒体考古实验室的种族与技术资助计划的慷慨支持。媒体考古学实验室位于传统Arapaho，Cheyenne和Ute Nations地区。
通过www.DeepL.com/Translator（免费版）翻译