Meaning is culturally constructed. The word; first orally transmitted, then transmitted through print, and now electronically transmitted, remains paramount in the creation and transmission of meaning. Walter J. Ong suggests that the electronic age has ushered in a ôsecond orality û a technology in which orality is central but subservient or dependent on writing and printö (Gladney 98). The reach and scope of electronic orality is much broader than previous forms of orality because, according to Ong, electronic orality ôgenerates a sense for groups immeasurably larger than those of primary oral cultureö (Gladney 98).
Computer technologies continue to drive the second orality, one where literature is undergoing changes similar to other aspects of culture impacted by technology. Virtuality of literature is a concept that most view as implying a disembodying of text from the reading experience. Ong (21) suggests that Plato has Socrates criticize writing in Phaedrus in a manner comparable to those who criticize virtual reality in literature, for Socrates maintains that writing is ôinhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind what in reality can only be in the mind.ö
Despite such objections to the virtuality of literature as a disembodying engagement, Katherine Hayles (1) argues that electronic literature does not abandon materiality but integrates it within information technologies. Technological developments, including those associated with the ôwordö (oral, written, printed, and electronic); represent historical context and construction according to Hayles. Hayles (19) argues that ôit is a historical construction to believe that computer media are disembodying technologies, not an obvious truth.ö This analysis will review the work of Hayles and Ong to demonstrate that electronic technologies do not equate to a disembodying technology but, rather, they represent technologies that enrich the interaction bet...