|
=== Codework poetry ===
theThe idea that code can be read, analyzed, and written as literature is not unprecedented. Codework poetry, known as the construction and stylization of verse using a mixture of programming languages with natural languages to produce literature, is a literary treatment of data. Using programming languages like natural languages by giving them syntactical and semantic meanings produces a concrete poem-esque effect when juxtaposed together in the same context. Published anonymously in the networked discussion system [[Usenet]], “Black Perl” (1990) exemplifiesserves as an example of a codework poetrypoem. Written in the programming language [[Perl]] (short for “Practical Extraction and Report Language”) as an example of Perl Poetry, “Black Perl” was intentionally written in valid Perl commands so that it could be understood by computer and human reading. RunThe onstep-by-step commands listed in each line of the program transform into a computernarrated event when read line-by-line as a poem. The code’s form, such as the inclusion the asterisks and parentheses, influences the readability of the code as a poem, compilesas withoutvarious producingpunctuation outputmarks (whichserve meansdifferent semantic purposes when read in Perl than in [[Lingua inglese|English]], for example. However, “Black Perl” was intentionally written as a poem, meaning that this particular codework poem has more in common with practices of constraint writing than generative literature. In fact, “Black Perl” is not generative) for the reason that it is not program-generated output but, whenis, readinstead, bythe humansprogram initself. The Englishusefulness of this poem, however, is to demonstrate the “output”duality mayof human and computer readability in “Black Perl” and how programming languages are not completely devoid of literary value. vary:
The step-by-step commands listed in each line of the program transform into a narrated event when read line-by-line as a poem. The code’s form, such as the inclusion the asterisks and parentheses, influences the readability of the code as a poem, as various punctuation marks serve different semantic purposes when read in Perl than in English, for example. However, “Black Perl” was intentionally written as a poem, meaning that this particular codework poem has more in common with practices of constraint writing than generative literature. In fact, “Black Perl” is not generative for the reason that it is not program-generated output but, is, instead, the program itself. The usefulness of this poem, however, is to demonstrate the duality of human and computer readability in “Black Perl” and how programming languages are not completely devoid of literary value.
== Controversy ==
Despite the loose parameters for what qualifies as art today, the debatable literary status of algorithmic outputs has been an ongoing contention even amongst [[new media]] artists. Digital technology theorist [[Yuk Hui]] called algorithmic outputs “algorithmic catastrophes” rather than anything worth studying at all, defining outputs, or “the product of automated algorithms,” as “the failure of reason,” not even “material failure.”<ref>{{Cita pubblicazione|autore=Yuk Hui|anno=2015|titolo=Algorithmic Catastrophe—The Revenge of Contingency|rivista=Parrhesia|volume=23|numero=|p=123|lingua=en|url=http://whatishappeningtoourbrain.rietveldacademie.nl/pages/brain/parrhesia.pdf}}</ref> Portuguese experimental poet [[Rui Torres]], whose corpus of creative works includes presenting poetry in hypermedia contexts, asserted, while fielding questions after a talk delivered at the [[Università della California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley]] in April 2016,<ref>{{Cita video|autore=Rui Torres|titolo=Rui Torres – Unlocking the Secret Garden: Electronic Literature from Portugal|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKSo0iqdvPk|accesso=2019-05-24|data=2016-05-04|editore=Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley|lingua=en}}</ref> that algorithmic outputs can never transpierce the literary realm, thus barring algorithmic outputs as literature and siding with Hui’s idea that algorithmic behaviors suggest a “failure of reason.”
=== Raymond Kurzweil's "Cybernetic Poet" ===
First introduced sometime in the mid-1980s, [[Raymond Kurzweil’sKurzweil]]’s Cybernetic Poet is an online program that generates poetry by reading an extensive collection of poems written by human authors. On his website, entitled “CyberArt Technologies,”[[Utente:Lydia<ref>{{Cita Tuanweb|url=http:/Generative/www.kurzweilcyberart.com/poetry/rkcp_overview.php|titolo=Kurzweil Literature#%20ftn1CyberArt Technologies Home Page|[1]]]autore=Raymond Kurzweil|lingua=en|urlarchivio=http://web.archive.org/save/http://www.kurzweilcyberart.com/poetry/rkcp_overview.php|dataarchivio=2019-05-24|urlmorto=no}}</ref> Kurzweil introduces the Cybernetic Poet’s functionalities in greater detail:
RKCP [the Cybernetic Poet] uses a recursive poetry-generation algorithm to achieve the language style, rhythm patterns, and poem structure of the original authors whose poems were analyzed. There are also algorithms to maintain thematic consistency through the poem. The poems are in a similar style to the author(s) originally analyzed but are completely original new poetry. The system even has rules to discourage itself from plagiarizing.[[Utente:Lydia Tuan/Generative Literature#%20ftn2|[2]]]
|
