Fragmented Thought(s): Relating Memory & Relationships to the Making of Identity

            It is interesting to note in the following list of e-lit works (born from the digital realm) that most have similarities relating to the representation and shaping of identity. Such as, in one form or another, the content and the format support each other, and subsequently, show how identities come about in a multiplicity of ways. Particularly, it seems that in every work, identity is never a solid entity. Rather, it is fluid and transient. In other words, it consists in separated parts that get pieced together. Either over a period of time, or in the course of a reader/users’ interaction with the electronic text; memories, experiences, relationships and etcetera, all contribute to the construction of identity in their respective works.

            For instance, “Fitting the Pattern” by Christine Wilks is also ‘fittingly’ labeled a “memoir in pieces,” whereas the reader must literally cut and piece (or thread) together the identity of a young girl coming-of-age. Albeit the format and content are carefully woven to construct the gendered identity, the story is already automatically constructed to do so. In this way, the past and memory are the main shapers of identity, but the representation of it can change depending on what tools the reader chooses to use. Another work which works along with this idea of constructing identity from memory is Caitlin Fisher’s “Circle.” Specifically, Fisher’s augmented reality work traces the lives of three women from three different generations. Thus, the work goes beyond utilizing past experiences and, instead, melds past, present, and future together in order to articulate the idea of how the identities of grandmother, mother, and daughter are shaped and represented by things such as; photographs, albums, and heirlooms.  In this way, it would seem that tangible objects also carry certain meanings, which respectively, also add to the representation of identity. Yet another work that represents and shapes identity as pieced together to form an ephemeral whole is “Pieces of Herself” by Juliet Davis. In this ‘piece,’ the gendered identity of a girl is literally constructed by the reader/interactor of the story, whereas the reader actually needs to click/choose locations within the text to find pieces of the body to create the person (or identity). Therefore, similar to the former works by Wilks and Fisher, Davis leaves it up to the reader to negotiate and construct the identity, specifically, of the female gendered individual.

            Several more works of e-lit utilize multi-modal elements, like images or sound to construe these specific ideas relating to the construction of identity. Such that it is, more or less, fragmented and must be pieced together, yet is never meant to represent a stable whole. In this way, the form and content of these digital works importantly function in tandem in order to show readers that identity is fluid and changing. Even if identity is constructed, the very foundation of it is built upon memory and relationships, which are also both highly transformative aspects that work to represent and shape it as well.