Electronic literature is "work with an important literary aspect that takes advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer" [1]. A recent overview of the different genres of electronic literature and providing discussions of many specific works is N. Katherine Hayles' Electronic Literature: What Is It?[2]
According to the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO), a non-profit organization that promotes the reading and writing of electronic literatures, there are several forms of electronic literature:
- hypertext fiction and hypertext poetry, on and off the Web
- Works of fiction published solely or initially on the Web that require its capabilities
- Kinetic poetry presented in Flash and using other platforms; digital poetry, e-poetry
- Computer art installations which ask viewers to read them or otherwise have literary aspects
- Conversational characters, also known as chatterbots
- Interactive fiction
- Novels that take the form of emails, SMS messages, or blogs
- Poems and stories that are generated by computers, either interactively or based on parameters given at the beginning
- Collaborative writing projects that allow readers to contribute to the text of a work
- Literary performances online that develop new ways of writing
References
- ^ Montfort, Nick. 2005. "On Authorship, E-Lit, and Blogs." 'Grand Text Auto', http://grandtextauto.org
- ^ N. Katherine Hayles. Electronic Literature: What Is It, 'The Electronic Literature Organization', 2007.
See also
Important Critics and Authors
- Jay David Bolter
- J. Yellowlees Douglas
- N. Katherine Hayles
- Shelley Jackson
- Michael Joyce
- George Landow
- Lev Manovich
- Stuart Moulthrop
- Espen J. Aarseth
External links
- Electronic Literature Organization
- Dreaming Methods - an archive of electronic fiction since 1994
- New Media Poetry and Poetics issue of Leonardo Electronic Almanac: an overview & anthology published by The MIT Press