A Coffe Table Book about Coffee Tables

Considering the evolution of hypertext described by N. Katherine Hayles in Writing Machines, I felt that there were important distinctions that she drew in relation to first and second generation hypertexts as well as her engagement with them.  As many of the first-generation hypertexts functioned by “clicking on links to go from one lexia to another” it seems that they were merely electronic representations of books rather than an actual rethinking of the conventions of the book.  According to Hayles, “first-generation hypertexts were largely comprised of text, making little or no use of graphics, animation, and sound… [they] were more like books than they were like second-generation electronic literature” (37).  It seems that the first-generation electronic texts were electronic for the sake of being electronic.  Although a necessary step in order to be able to move past the simple uploading of words onto a computer, the first-generation electronic texts seemed that they did not allow for the level of material engagement with which Hayles seems fascinated.  Simply reading on an electronic medium does not call for the type of rethinking of print culture for which Hayles calls, but rather seems to be a type of gimmick.

Although a departure from the realm of electronic literature, Hayles’s focus on materiality and the ways in which it can be manipulated and utilized to impact that actual text, made me consider the other types of gimmicks used by authors and publishers to frame print texts.  From the pop-up book to books with various sounds, I wonder if it is possible that a strong focus on materiality could actually detract from or lessen the need for strong content.  When thinking about materiality in relation to books, the first thing I thought of was Kramer’s coffee table book on the sitcom Seinfeld.  As the clip below shows, Kramer decides to construct a book that features photographs of celebrity coffee table.  Although seemingly traditional structurally, the book actually has legs like that of a coffee table and can be set up to function as a table.  In this instance, the materiality of the book is a gimmick.  While some people may have an interest in viewing celebrity coffee tables, the main reason the books seems to find an audience stems from the novelty of a book about coffee tables that is, in itself, a coffee table.

While I realize that this is straying from the realm of new media, I believe that Kramer’s coffee table book seems to function in the same way as first-generation electronic texts.  Kramer’s book is merely a book with table legs and its materiality does not ask for a consideration of re-envision of how books are framed and the degree to which structure can impact content.  Rather, the novelty of the shape seems to serve as a justification for potentially lack-luster material.  In much the same way (and without any real knowledge of the content of these first-generation texts), I feel that various forms of media are often implemented in order to make books seems edgy or be dubbed “electronic,” yet these gimmicks are used as a crutch.  Like the first-generation texts, which served as an important and necessary step in the current work being done in electronic literature, Kramer’s coffee table book, and other texts that foreground materiality, potentially do so at the peril of content.