What is 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. Within the broad category of electronic literature are several forms and threads of practice, some of which are:
- Hypertext fiction and poetry, on and off the Web
- Kinetic poetry presented in Flash and using other platforms
- 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
Electronic Literature Links:
Matthew Miller’s Trip (Hypertext fiction):
http://iat.ubalt.edu/guests/trip/tripCopyright.html
Jim Rosenberg’s Diagrams Series 5 (Hypertext Poem):
http://www.well.com/user/jer/d5/d5_Intro.html
Erik Loyer’s The Lair of the Marrow Monkey (Hypertext fiction):
http://marrowmonkey.com/lair/02.htm
Michael Joyce’s Twelve Blue (Hypertext fiction):
http://www.eastgate.com/TwelveBlue/
Zork emulator (Early example of computer game fiction):
http://www.thcnet.net/zork/
Peasant’s Quest (Satire of King’s Quest video game):
http://www.homestarrunner.com/disk4of12.html