Nonlinearity, Multilinearity, Simultaneity

Abstract

This paper addresses three paradigms in epistemological structures that could serve as preliminary classifications enabling a systematic approach to past and current media phenomena such as hypertext, diagrams and ubiquitous computing. Nonlinearity is discussed by Vilém Flusser in the context of "technical images." In his own approach to go beyond linear text, Flusser and his publisher created a digital version of his book Die Schrift on a floppy disk (1987), enabling the reader to jump between chapters or to rewrite the text. Multilinearity is a concept that is revived within the diagrammatology discourse, transcending linearity through topographical ways of reading. Current examples can be found in arts and narratives such as Chris Ware's comics, who uses diagrammatics to blur the lines between the reader and the author. Simultaneity as a technological attribute is essential to current ubiquitous and pervasive technologies and services and draws heavily on Heideggerian concepts such as readiness-to-hand and background. In this epistemological shift, the information is instantaneously organized according to the user's needs. Each of these epistemological structures offers a different idea about receiving and creating knowledge, information and communication, paving the way for narrative and media strategies that are more and more determined by a 'reader' becoming a 'user' and a 'text' becoming a 'service.' Image Credit: Chris Ware’s Diagram on the interior of the dust-jacket from Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth.