Metaphors Takeaways
• “Synthesize” urges composers to consider objects-as-metaphors very carefully before introducing them into their projects’ designs, knowing that once a metaphor has been introduced into the design at a foundational level, it is very challenging to excise it from the project. One workaround might be to consider multiple metaphors before immediately jumping into one that seems like a useful route forward (potentially a challenging reflective step when working against the pressure of time, or at least to realize the strong affective and sense-making power metaphors can exert, especially when they carry personal symbolic resonances). It would be helpful in this case to create mockups for multiple metaphors to see where the objects might push the composer in developing an argument into an inscape. Another useful resource to help counteract this might be a repository for metaphors or objects used in webtext composing and multimedia scholarship, as a way of highlighting previous work and invention strategies but also to consider what new metaphors might need to be introduced, as some sort of object library or design guide.
• “Emplace” encourages composers to think of their webtexts as embodied spaces, and the ways they might draw on embodied knowledge in creating a material-conceptual space within which to situate the reader. This influence also invites composers to think of how they might deliberately design this space in a way that both builds on and challenges the structures of traditional essay division. “Emplace” asks composers to consider in what ways their design draws on or departs from traditional form, and how it contributes to the argument as a whole. The main thing “Emplace” suggests is not necessarily the most novel and innovative structure, but rather to consider reasons for structuring the space of multimodal scholarship in a particular way. For example, if the main conceptual structure is a novel material metaphor, what does that add to the argument? If the main emplacement is based on traditional essay form, is this a deliberate or automatic choice? On the part of journals, “Emplace” encourages editors to make ways for scholars to have more control over their interfaces, options which have begun to be developed in spaces such as Scalar or Vega.
• “Interact” encourages webtext composers to design arguments via interfaces that invite embodied interaction as part of their knowledge-making structure. Such design might involve user testing with a broad range of users to get a more accurate sense of how they will interact with the webtext; how the designer might use their interactions as invention material; and what they need to do to make their desired interactions clearer or more intuitive. Such interaction also encourages accessible design in practice rather than just in theory, particularly when undertaken with a diverse user testing population with diverse access needs. “Interact” encourages composers to consider how the actions readers take in engaging with their project contribute theoretically to the argument as a whole, and also to remember to build for embodiment in ways that take advantage of the resources of digital spaces, rather than just conceptual knowledge transfer. “Interact” might also be adapted for traditional scholarship as well, by building in “user testing” through multiple readers with attention particularly not just to evaluation but to the argument’s clarity and the document’s usability.
• “Symbolize” encourages composers to chart out all possible meanings, associations, and resonance an object as metaphor carries, particularly to make sure that their own associations with an object will be carried through and clear to other audiences as well. Composers should also be clear whether an object might have symbolic resonances for some audiences that may carry unintended and potentially conflicting or unproductive meanings and associations. As with several of the Inventio projects, composers should consider sharing their personal associations with a metaphor or design object in order to fully unfold its contribution to the project’s design and to the argument as a whole. “Symbolize” invites composers to consider what they want to emphasize and mask in relation to an objects resonances, as well as the implications it carries for data representation and for the webtext’s total inscape.
• Finally, “Emphasize” encourages the composer to pay attention constantly to the metaphor’s total influence on the project’s inscape, to make sure that it complements the holistic argument and that the metaphor has not run off in its own direction with a “mind of its own.” One option might be to chart out the metaphor’s presence throughout the document, to make sure that the object itself and all its resonances are evenly spread through the project and not drawing too much or too little attention to particular sections. “Emphasize” encourages composer to consider whether the metaphor complements the argument or draws too much attetion to itself, a process requiring continuous conceptual reverse-outlining in order to understand the total relationship between webtext pieces and the way that the metaphor contributes to (or detracts from) the conceptual glue holding them together.
