LAMINATE TEXT

The Strata of Digital Inscription

Using archival materials from the history of twentieth century technology, I advance a theory of laminate text grounded in the physical affordances of the medium. It proceeds in three parts, after a brief methodological discussion at the intersection of literary theory and media history. In the first layer or “sediment,” we observe the development of encoded languages used to store data on ticker tape and punch cards. The second layer is characterized by its increasing opacity: electromagnetic storage becomes inaccessible to human senses. Finally, a layer of simulated inscription is laid down to restore the appearance of a single surface onscreen. Each sediment presents distinct challenges to contemporary practices of reading and interpretation.