Shelley Jackson’s “Stitch Bitch” is a piece that is hard to describe. I attempted to explain its meaning to another and found myself stuttering and mumbling through phrases like hypertext and linear movement. I could go on and on for days about how much I didn’t understand about Jackson’s piece but I found that what I did gain from the piece far outweighs the vast majority of what I was left scratching my head about.
Jackson does a nice job of explaining hypertext and its growing importance in the new media age. I found her articulation of how hypertext promotes a sort of ADD sharing of information to be compelling. There is this psychological concept called “loosening of associations” that I discovered while an undergraduate student. It means that when you identify an initial object and make subsequent connections, the end result may be an object or thought entirely opposite of what you began with. (Example: A trash can –> garbage –> Oscar the Grouch –> Big Bird –> Yellow –> Bananas –> Monkeys –> The Jungle Book. See how strange that is?) I believe hypertext is a lot like this, a constant connecting of concepts with the ability to switch gears appear amidst the original information being shared (…and only one Google search away).
“Stitch Bitch” was Jackson’s way of defying the linear (and very traditional) way of storytelling, in favor of a randomized and counterintuitive piecing together of narratives. It makes for a headache of a read but entirely engaging. I read and read and read hoping to finally get “it”. I didn’t. Silly stitch bitch.