Digitalism: Towards A Theory Of Digital Rhetoric And Composition

Abstract

In this thesis, I argue that the text and the textual are inherently digital and, thus, have properties that are information theoretic in origin. From that premise, I use an interdisciplinary approach to construct a theory for the reading and deconstruction of digital works and their viewers, which I then use to form a method for the analysis, composition, and reading of texts "digitally."The first two chapters introduce the relation of digital philosophy and information theory to textual works, which leads into the third chapter's ontology of digital works and their audience. Chapters four introduces the power of simulacrum in digital works and the effects networked cultures have on identity. From there, chapter five explores visual interfaces in comics and economic interfaces in memetics, with "analog" examples. Chapter six applies the conclusions of chapter five to digital works and online cultures. Chapter seven synthesizes these seemingly divergent ideas into a cohesive method of "digital" reading, composition, and analysis. In the concluding chapter, I apply my "digital" rhetorical method to current political ideologies and propose an emergent shift towards a post-ideological mode of political thinking.