Twitter goes literary with 'Ulysses'

Twitter has gone highbrow with a performance from Joyce`s `Ulysses`.

New York, June 18: Twitter, the social networking site favoured by some celebrities, has gone highbrow with a performance from James Joyce`s 1922 novel `Ulysses`. Two "Ulysses" enthusiasts, videogame designer Ian Bogost from the Georgia Institute of Technology and colleague Ian McCarthy, wanted to use the site in a culturally interesting way rather than just as a service that lets users send 140-character messages, known as tweets.

They came up with idea of re-creating a chapter from "Ulysses" on Twitter. They chose chapter 10, Wandering Rock, which is famous for showing the interlocking events of 19 characters walking through central Dublin on their daily business. Bogost and McCarthy registered 54 of the novel`s characters as Twitter users and adapted the chapter in a large series of 140-character-or-less first-person statements, using a specially created software to automate a performance. On June 16, or Bloomsday, the day the action in the novel takes place in 1904, these characters all sent tweets about what they were doing at the correct fictional times. Bogost said the performance went smoothly, although a few technical hiccups meant some characters were unable to take part. "I think the project sheds a new light on Twitter by intermixing usual fare with these century-old characters," said Bogost on his blog, www.bogost.com. "As for long-term literary uses of Twitter, it`s certainly a viable and interesting option." Every year Bloomsday is celebrated in Joyce`s home country of Ireland and in other English-speaking parts of the world, with Joyce fans and scholars often retracing the characters` steps. Bureau Report