I might be way off base with my comments to this reading but to be quite honest I’m not really sure what this reading was supposed to be about or where it intended to go or what it meant. It felt like it was some philosophic drug trip where “we are everything and yet we are nothing” is the mantra of the people.
But I suppose that is the point that Shelly Jackson is trying to make; the meaning is whatever you want it to be. In the Collage section of her writing Jackson says, “Sentences always say more than they mean…” so from this I gathered that we are supposed to form our own meaning and interpretation of the text. After reading the article, there were three things I immediately thought of.
The first is that Jackson could have been suggesting that the media/press feeds us information, news, specifically telling us what to think rather than reporting facts. So from this, we must gather all of the information we can and try to find the subtext and form our own meanings and opinions.
The second is that I kind of got the vibe of a similar thread between the Thornburn and Jenkins reading. Both seemed to have an idea that language is transcendent across all media, however Jackson had the idea that the meaning changes depending on the context it is in and what medium is used to convey the message.
Finally the Collage quote, mentioned above, and Jackson’s comment on how hypertext is schizophrenic where you cant tell what is original and what is the reference reminded me of the film RIP: A Remix Manifesto. RIP is a film about music mash ups in the digital age. The film basically follows Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, and chronicles how culture builds upon itself. Specifically it deals with some infringement cases and illegal usage of songs, but the point the film makes is that these mash ups create new meanings, so is remixing piracy? Its what you make of it and what meaning you give to it—sharing is the nature of creation.