Electronic Literature: Documenting and Archiving Multimodal Computational Writing

Critical Writing
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2019
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Abstract (in English): 

The field of Electronic Literature comprises new forms of literary creation that merge writing, computation, interactivity, and design in the creation of writing that is specific to the context of the computer and the global network. While electronic literature is a field of experimental writing with a history that stretches back to the 1950s, it has grown most expansively in the late two decades. Forms of electronic literature such as combinatory poetics, hypertext fiction, kinetic and interactive poetry, and network writing bridge the 20th century avant-garde and practices specific to the 21st century networked society. Yet electronic literature has faced significant hurdles as it has developed as a field of study, related to the comparative instability of complex computational objects, which because of their formal diversity are often not easily accommodated by standardized methods of digital archiving, and are subject to cycles of technological obsolescence. Rettberg's presentation will address efforts to disseminate, document, and archive the field of electronic literature. After providing some examples of genres of electronic literature, Rettberg will discuss projects such as the Electronic Literature Collections, the ELMCIP Electronic Literature Knowledge Base, and the Electronic Literature Repository that seek to preserve a corpus of work and criticism for the future.

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Scott Rettberg Keynote at CLARIN 2019
Scott Rettberg Keynote at CLARIN 2019
Scott Rettberg Keynote at CLARIN 2019

Databases/Archives referenced:

Titlesort descending Organization responsible
Electronic Literature Directory Electronic Literature Organization
Electronic Literature Organization Repostiory Electronic Literature Organization
ELMCIP Electronic Literature Knowledge Base ELMCIP: Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice, University of Bergen, Electronic Literature Research Group, University of Bergen, Program in Digital Culture
NT2 Répertoire Des Arts et Littératures Hypermédiatiques Laboratorie NT2, Université du Québec à Montréal
PO-EX.net: Arquivo Digital da Literatura Experimental Portuguesa University Fernando Pessoa
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Scott Rettberg