#transliteracy

Developing Non-linear Thinking Skills

In the game of life, it may be that opportunities are best avoided, or politely declined, so that we can hold on more tightly to what we have, but in the serious business of art, opportunities are enemies unless seized.

After Fern Hill - Hypertext Tanka Poetry Series

The word ‘transliteracy’ is derived from the verb ‘to transliterate’, meaning to write or print a letter or word using the closest corresponding letters of a different alphabet or language. This of course is nothing new, but transliteracy extends the act of transliteration and applies it to the increasingly wide range of communication platforms and tools at our disposal. From early signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV and film to networked digital media, the concept of transliteracy calls for a change of perspective away from the battles over print versus digital, and a move instead towards a unifying ecology not just of media, but of all literacies relevant to reading, writing, interaction and culture, both past and present. It is, we hope, an opportunity to cross some very obstructive divides.