The images of the double and the hand in the digital hypertextual work 88 Constellations for Wittgenstein (to Be Played with the Left Hand), by David Clark

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the possible thematic routes of the images of the double and the hand in the digital hypermedia work 88 Constellations for Wittgenstein (to Be Played with the Left Hand), by Canadian artist David Clark (2010). To do so, we initially present an overview of the field of digital literature and some of its main terminological issues. Subsequently, we describe in detail the structure and functions of the corpus, as well as its place within the canon of electronic literature, before we in fact analyze the selected thematic routes. By means of hypertextual close reading, the discussions in the article show the richness of this digital and multimodal work, which could be read according to various interpretive paths, from which we highlight two interpretative routes built on thematic recurrences among interconnected fragments about the life and work of Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Moreover, this article reflects on the challenges to interpreting digital hypertextual works as this one, highlighting the methodological choices inherent to the analysis of a cultural object with such mediatic and semiotic specificities.