Electronic Lit Discussion Qs
Okay well here are my discussion Qs. It numbered weird and I couldn’t get it to work right, but the bold is the actual question and the text before the bold is any back ground from the book I feel that you need to know.
Let me know if you have any questions.
“Of the sixty works in the ELC [Electronic Literature Collection], perhaps a third have no recognizable words, virtually all have important visual components, and many have sonic effects as well. By calling these works ‘literature,’ my co-editors and I hope to stimulate questions about the nature of literature in the digital era” (4
Wiki definition of Electronic Literature: Electronic literature is a literary genre consisting of works of literature that originate within digital environments.
Electronic Literature Organization definition of Electronic Literature: “The term refers to works with important literary aspects that take advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer” (http://www.eliterature.org/about/).
Dictionary.com definition of Literature: “Writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.”
After reading Hayles’ Electronic Literature, what is your definition of literature? Do you draw a distinction between literature and electronic literature or does your definition of literature include electronic literature? Are there non-digital works without words that would be considered literature?
“Anecdotal evidence as well as brain imaging studies indicate that “Generation M” is undergoing a significant cognitive shift, characterized by a craving for continuously varying stimuli, a low threshold for boredom, the ability to process multiple information streams simultaneously, and a quick intuitive grasp of algorithmic procedures that underlie and generate surface complexity” (117).
Wiki definition of Generation M: “The Internet generation, a term used to describe those who grew up during the birth and rise of the Internet.”
Is there a need for electronic literature because traditional literature does not stimulate Generation M’s multiple senses simultaneously? What implications could this constant need for new stimuli have on our literature, movies, and other forms of entertainment? How also will the constant stimuli changes affect the pedagogical strategies implemented from K-12 as well as higher education? Will the text books for all levels of education need to evolve into a more electronic literature format?
“Rather than asking if there is evidence that the ‘literary’ novel may in fact be losing audience share to other entertainment forms, however, Fitzpatrick asks what cultural and social functions are served by pronouncements about the death of the print novel. In my view, the situation is more complex than Fitzpatrick allows… young people are spending less time reading print books and more time surfing the Web, playing video games, and listening to MP3 files. Nevertheless, Fitzpatrick is certainly correct in pointing to the perception of print authors that they are in danger of becoming obsolete” (161-62).
Are print novelists at risk because of the amount of time people spend online (surfing the web, email, facebook, etc) or because people are reading electronic literature more frequently or have people just stopped reading novels?
“Also available are electronic book-like devices that can be taken to a bookstore where the electronic files comprising the text can be purchased, downloaded, and read at leisure on the device” (159-60).
What is the future of electronic readers such as the Nook and Kindle? How will they affect print literature in the future?
As I was reading the print book, I was wishing I had a computer showing me the program/electronic literature source that Hayles was talking about simultaneously. As far as I can tell, she talks about electronic literature sources that are not included on the disc. Do you feel that the entire piece of literature should have been solely in an electronic format where the text about the literature was shown either directly before or after seeing the piece of electronic literature?
