From Page to Screen - WRAP: Warwick Research Archive Portal ...

MacProse Output
Wouldn't some suspicion between a front and these idiots
vaccinate your wing? Those heels started to dance. The
vagina of space: so spectacular a legend. To smile cracked.
Will its bus function? He who appeared held computetton]
Sentence Tree
Sentence
->!he
-stwno
->#ForceSi ng
->#ForceThrd
VerbPhrase
IntrVbUnit
->lntrVerb
VerbPhrase
TranVbUnit
-}TransVerb
ObjPhrase
NounPhrase
->Substance
->@.
The window on the right of the above screenshot shows the structural tree of the last
sentence of the output on the left (He who appeared held computation). A stock of
these sentence trees comes pre-programmed by Hartman as part of the program. It is,
however, possible for users to add their own.
But what is the use of an potentially infinite output of sentences, which, while
grammatically correct still are fundamentally non-sensical and random? Hartman was
rightly reminded ofBorges' Library ofBabel, in which every possible letter combination is
kept in an infinite number ofvolumes in infinite library labyrinth. He describes himself
spending days on his way to work "poring over fanfolded piles of computer paper,
searching in vain for oracular truths "42 and had to realise quickly that the unedited output
of the program was, ifregarded as an end in itself, useless and would need to be looked at
as a means to an end, i.e. raw material in need ofselecting and editing. He writes:
1
4
I neither expected nor wanted to write myself out of the picture. Presenting the
reader with all the computer's combinations was out of the question. I anticipated
making any final selection myself. 43
Hartman, Virtual Muse, p.82.
4J Hartman, Virtual Muse, p.67.
Chapter 5 - page 196