Rebooting Electronic Literature, Volume 4

Photos of Eric Steinhart's "Fragments of the Dionysian Body"

The photos of Eric Steinhart's Fragments of the Dionysian Body found in this chapter are of copies Dene Grigar owns and holds in her library in the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University at Vancouver.

 

Fragments of the Dionysian Body Folio, Front


The cardboard folio containing Fragments of the Dionysian Body displays philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche on the front. He is in side profile, left hand supporting his chin, facing toward the right. His image is cut just above his left elbow, making it appear as though the image is emerging from a flat, off-white ellipse lying obliquely about a quarter of the way up the folio cover. Bottom and center of the cover reads “ERIC STEINHART” in all caps with black ink, in a rounded sans-serif font. In that same font above the image of Nietzsche reads “FRAGMENTS OF THE DIONYSIAN BODY”. “FRAGMENTS” is one-fifth of the way from the top of the folio, aligned left, in a large font. A clone of “FRAGMENTS” is visible just behind it; it is enlarged and slightly off-set to the upper-right, in the same off-white color as the flattened ellipse. “OF” and “THE” are stacked on top one another, directly underneath “FRAGMENTS”. These words are in a considerably smaller font, still in black ink. They are aligned left, but not to the extent “FRAGMENTS” is. However, “DIONYSIAN” is aligned identical to “FRAGMENTS”, residing two-fifths from the top of the folio in the same large font. “BODY” is in the line below “DIONYSIAN” (in the same size and font), but aligned to the right. It is the same distance from the right edge of the folio as “OF” and “THE” are to the left edge. Three grey nodes with eight arms each swirl like the Milky Way galaxy underneath the text, image of Nietzsche, and the ellipse. The entire folio is covered in a mottled brown and light-grey pattern, which lies underneath all the aforementioned elements.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body Folio, Back


The back of the folio containing Fragments of the Dionysian Body displays the same mottled brown and light-grey pattern as the folio’s front. All text printed here is in black ink. At the top reads “Hypertext Nietzsche and Dynamic Systems” in a large, black, sans-serif font (though it is not rounded like the title on the cover is). “Hypertext” is displayed near the top of the folio, aligned left. The “t” at the end of “Hypertext” aligns with the folio’s horizontal center, but the whole word does not span all the way to the folio’s left edge. “Nietzsche” is written in the line underneath “Hypertext”, arranged further to the right  but not quite centered on the folio. “and Dynamic Systems” is aligned to the left of the folio. It spans further across the folio than “Nietzsche" does, but still does not come up to the folio’s right edge.

The summary of Fragments of the Dionysian Body lies below “Hypertext Nietzsche and Dynamic Systems”, and is split into two separate columns. The left column begins higher up the folio than the right. The first column reads as follows (not wrapped in quotes):

“Some philosophical subjects—such as the work of Friedrich Nietzsche—are particularly suited to hypertext. Or so maintains author Eric Steinhart in this novel and intriguing demonstration. Fragments of the Dionysian Body, an exposition on Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, shows how Nietzsche’s aphorisms conceal a system of implicitly defined and connected concepts, ideally explored through a hypertext’s loops and mazes.
"At the core of his discussion, Steinhart reexamines Nietzschean concepts as”

The second column reads as follows (not in quotes):

“dynamic mathematical models. Through hypertext, Steinhart shows that a coherent view of Nietzsche’s writings can include Truth, Life, and God viewed as attractor basins, and the chaotic Ocean (on which we each embark in the Ship of Self) as the state space of the Will to Power.
Fragments of the Dionysian Body explores new philosophical ground in a novel hypertextual vehicle. The presentation is vigorous philosophy, a surprising and sprightly demonstration of how engagingly relevant Nietzsche’s thought can be.”

Following the summary of the work is a biography of Eric Steinhart. In the following paragraph, “Eric Steinhart” is written in a larger font than the text surrounding it, in the same rounded sans-serif font that the front of the folio uses. The biography reads as follows (not wrapped in quotes):

“Philosopher and computer scientist Eric Steinhart received the Ph.D in philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Steinhart’s research interests include epistemology, logic, metaphysics, and computational philosophy of language. He has held teaching positions at various institutions including Dartmouth College and SUNY Stony Brook. Steinhart lives in New York City.

The bottom fifth of the folio is separated from the rest of the content by a thin black line. The left-hand side has a note about the disk, but it is covered by a white rectangular sticker that reads “PLEASE NOTE” with “This title is now on CD” underneath in black ink. Two black triangles on either side of “PLEASE NOTE” point inward to call attention to this notice. Below the sticker is the logo of Eastsgate Systems Inc., which is a hand-drawn brick wall with an ornate arch in its center. The following contact information is listed to the left of the logo (not wrapped in quotes):

“(800) 562-1638
(617) 924-9044
FAX (617) 924-9051
E-MAIL info@eastgate.com
WEB http://www.eastgate.com/”

Content to the right of the logo reads “Eastgate Systems” in a serif font. “I N C” is printed directly to the right of it, with each letter cascading downward towards the right in a staircase effect. Below in smaller text reads the physical address of Eastgate Systems, Inc. (not wrapped in quotes):

“134 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02172
USA”

A label in the bottom-right of the folio displays two barcodes and several strings of numbers. The first is an ISBN code, which is printed vertically along the label’s left side. It reads “ISBN 1-884511-33-3”. This string is repeated across the top of a bar code on the right, which has another series of numbers underneath it: "9 781184 511332”. A second bar code to the right of the first has “90000>” printed above it.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body Folio, Open


The folio’s interior is cream in color, and contains a sleeve on either side of the booklet. The left sleeve displays a textual advertisement regarding other nonfiction hypertexts from Eastgate Systems, Inc. The right sleeve contains the instructional booklet for Fragments of the Dionysian Body, the cover of which mirrors the folio’s, printed in black ink on white paper.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body Folio, Front and Back


This photo of the open folio shows the front and back cover. The spine is visible; vertical text reads "Eric Steinhart" at the top, "FRAGMENTS OF THE DIONYSIAN BODY" in the center, and "Eastgate Systems, Inc." at the bottom.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body CD-ROM


The CD-ROM for Fragments of the Dionysian Body is maroon in color, with a series of white rings that progress from its center to the lower right side. Curving along one of the lower rings is small white text that reads “commodity-firmness-delight” in a sans-serif font; in an upper ring, “www.eastgate.com”. “Eastgate” is printed in white on the left side of the disc, barely above the center, in a serif font. Handwritten in black marker across the top reads “Fragments of the Dionysian Body”. A string of black numbers is printed partway around the disc’s center.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body CD-ROM Sleeve, Back


The CD-ROM for Fragments of the Dionysian Body comes in a square, white paper sleeve. The back is sealed with a white sticker printed in maroon ink. On this sticker, “Fragments” is displayed in the upper left corner in a serif font. “OF THE” is aligned right, printed in an all-caps sans-serif font, in the space underneath. A horizontal maroon line comes from the sticker’s left-hand side spanning a quarter of the way across. Below this line and “OF THE” reads “DIONYSIAN”, with “BODY” below that. Both words are printed in an all-caps sans-serif font, with a second line running from the left-hand side dividing the two words. Below this text on the right-hand side reads “Eric Steinhart” in a serif font. A thick maroon line separates the aforementioned content, approximately one third of the way from the bottom of the sticker. Inside this maroon line reads “SERIOUS HYPERTEXT from”, in a white serif font, aligned center, with the first two words in all caps. Below the maroon line displays the logo of Eastgate Systems, Inc. on the left side, and contact information on the right. The logo comprises about one fourth of the sticker’s horizontal space. It is a hand-drawn brick wall with a decorative arch in its center. The contact information on the right side reads “Eastgate Systems” in a serif font. “I N C” is printed directly to the right of it, with each letter cascading downward towards the right in a staircase effect. Below in smaller text reads the physical address of Eastgate Systems, Inc.: “134 Main St., Watertown, MA 02172” followed by two phone numbers underneath: “(800) 562-1638” and (617) 924-9044”.


Fragments of the Dionysian Body CD-ROM and Sleeve


This photo displays the CD-ROM for Fragments of the Dionysian Body within the paper sleeve. The front of the sleeve has a circle cut out of it, shielded in transparent plastic so as to showcase the CD-ROM inside. Visible at the top of the sleeve is the sticker from the back folded over onto the front, with a maroon sans-serif font that reads “Copyright ©1997 by Eric Steinhart. Software copyright ©1992-97 by Eastgate Systems. Inc. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or sale of this material is expressly prohibited.

This page has paths:

This page references: