Séparation / Separation

• CreatorAnnie Abrahams
• Year Published2011
• Published InElectronic Literature Collection 2

This award-winning work appeared in various venues before its publication in the Electronic Literature Collection 2 in 2011. It is described as "an interactive piece that reflects some of the physical and psychic disorders that result from intensive use of a computer. The text was written under the effects of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), which also functions as a metaphor for what happens to a writer (or 'cyborgauthor') who cannot create without, and has no identity apart from, the machine. The paradox is that separating from the computer is painful, but to write with it again is painful as well. "Separation" / "Séparation" has to be read at a very slow pace that, when not respected, collapses the text, with the result that the reader must perform a set of exercises as physical penitence. These exercises interrupt the reader from "Separation" / "Séparation's" literary text and thus strangely protect her against RSI. The game and dialogue among artist, machine, and reader facilitates a general reflection on the role of the body in processes of reading and writing."--From Electronic Literature Collection 2