Echoes From the Screen – Richgels

“Taps a key, waking the computer from its reverie” From Kentucky Route Zero

You’re looking for a specific answer? No…just a stone. A stone? For what reason? Something to hold in my hand. I don’t understand, why? To hold on something real. To realize that, for one moment, I have a grasp on something in life. To realize that I can do anything with this stone, that its destiny is tied with my own, that its very existence rests upon my finger prints, that I have control. …What are you going to do with it now? …. (Skips the stone across the lake watching the ripples glint and shine under the moonlight wake) ….Satisfied? …Someday.

What is literacy? This actually reminds me of a similar question with pretty much the same answers. “What is jazz?” The reason why these resemble so closely is because there are so many ways to answer these questions, while at the same time coming up empty. If we were to ask someone “what is literacy” say a quarter of a generation ago, we might get a specific answer like “reading and writing”, yet, there is no satisfaction with this answer. There is no overwhelming sense of understanding or jubilee from this. Is this person right? Yes, but they are also wrong on so many levels as literacy has the capacity to evolve and morph into new and unexpected pieces that not only question our own volition, but question what exists around us and how we contemplate our own understanding from these observations. Literacy is so many things while at the same time a simple statement like “reading and writing”.

At the beginning of the semester Szwed describe to us the main points of literacy which included the context of the literacy and the motivation for writing it. If we accept the truth that literacy is a tool for humanity to use to respond to the earths echo around us, then Szwed showed us the process of capturing that echo, breaking down its sounds and pitches, then splaying them on a page through the ears and eyes of another to then share with everyone. Literacy is the practice of breaking down and responding as stated by Szwed, however, literacy also piles up as each generation remixes the previous’ earthy jazz with their own style and emotion. The tune changes and the previous generation breaks off complaining that their inheritors “don’t understand” or “aren’t trying as much” whereas between the notes and inclines of tune a new song is born and the echo resounds with a pitch and style unknown and ‘new’. Something Szwed does not mention.

This new remix comes from the voice of Lawrence Lessig who described this new phenomenon as something that has always existed and, despite our generational views, is something inherently beautiful and should remain free as it is the one form of creative flow that helps the ‘new’ acquire a voice from which it can sing from its own tune. However, we must also include Brandt’s piece of “Sponsors of Literacy”, that shows us a world of the ‘new’ being regulated by those who have the clout and willingness to supply tools for literacy. Here we see that the ‘new’ could be restricted from others if they don’t have a computer, something we take for granted. We realize that even though the ‘new’ is a tune that should be shared with all who are willing to listen, this process is sponsored through pieces of technology and tools that are required as we enter a digital future. At the same time, this piece of ‘new’ tune can be lost in the pilling up of literacy as its buried under previous generations literacies and a constant flow that then ‘spreads out’ creating sections of literacy. In this process we see groups having their own languages and literacies creating mini-cultures that have their own remixes constantly fluctuating and building up. It’s a behemoth to take on all at once which is why we tune in on a specific note and join in on a specific groups constant remixing creating the ‘new’.

Ultimately, literacy is a constantly evolving entity that can’t be summarized in four words. It’s something that sways and ripples alongside creation. It’s the song on the radio, it’s the magazine under the bed, it’s the ghosts in the static, it’s the display on the screen, it’s the microphone on the stage, it’s the brass sax on its stand, and it’s the pen in the hand. All these tools and notes combining into one cacophony of notes and keys that adjust and alternate to create a specific tune as a response to the world around. Literacy is the creation of a ‘new’ tune, remixed or otherwise, exchanging notes and fluctuations with the echoes of past tunes and remixes to recreate again and again. Its constantly evolving and changing as a new voice or ear join the cacophony. Literacy builds up, spreads out, and remixes with each new note and voice.