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1. Weapons Of The Deconstructive Masses: Whatever the Electronic in Electronic Literature may or may not mean

   This piece is an attempt to hasten the death of the 'electronic' in 'electronic literature' — to re-cognize it as a dead metaphor — as the prelude to an agonistic meditation on my generation's anticipation of the death of literature itself, with 'the literary,' potentially, waiting in the wings (and published elsewhere, elsewhen, elsehow).

   (Source: Author's abstract)

   Respondents at 2008 ELO Conference

   Joe Tabbi
   University of Illinois Chicago, USA 

   Scott Rettberg
   University of Bergen, Norway 

   Stuart Moulthrop
   University of Baltimore, USA

   Jill Walker Rettberg - 09.10.2012 - 21:00

2. The E-ssense of Literature

   Many works of electronic literature use text generation algorithms or interactive interfaces to present the reader with a different text upon each reading. Such variable texts can be difficult to analyze and discuss because it can be prohibitively difficult to take into account all possible permutations. The standard critical methodology for approaching these texts is to discuss excerpts from different readings, perhaps comparing passages that involve alternative renderings of the same textual content. While this approach can convey a general sense of the work and its possibilities for variation, it usually doesn't allow a thorough treatment of a complex work's structural framework. This essay presents a method for analyzing a work's source code to define the most important constant and variable properties of its constituent elements. It then applies the method to a generated electronic poem, "Snaps," by Dirk Hine. The source structure thus defined provides a springboard for critical interpretation of the work.

   Jill Walker Rettberg - 09.10.2012 - 21:12

3. Generative Visual Renku: Poetic Multimedia Semantics with the GRIOT System

   A polymorphic poem (polypoem) is a generative digital artwork that is constructed differently upon each instantiation, but can be meaningfully constrained according to aspects such as theme, metaphor, affect, and discourse structure. The Generative Visual Renku project presents a new form of concrete polymorphic poetry inspired by Japanese renku poetry, iconicity of Chinese character forms, and generative models from contemporary art. Calligraphic iconic illustrations are conjoined by the GRIOT system into a fanciful topography articulating the nuanced interplay between organic (natural or hand-created) and modular (mass-produced or consumerist) artifacts that saturate our lives. GRIOT, which is a system for composing generative and interactive narrative and poetic works, is used to semantically constrain generated output both visually and conceptually. On the one hand, this project extends the GRIOT architecture's support for composing graphics and has resulted in new theory to provide cognitive and semiotic groundings for the extension.

   Jill Walker Rettberg - 09.10.2012 - 21:20

4. The Aesthetics of Generative Literature: Lessons from a Digital Writing Workshop

   This paper explores a range of issues related to the pedagogy and practice of generative writing in programmable media. We begin with a brief description of the RiTa toolkit – a set of computational tools designed to facilitate the practice of generative writing. We then describe our experiences using these tools in a series of digital writing workshops at Brown University in 2007-2008. We discuss and theoretically examine a set of core issues raised by workshop participants — distributed authorship, the aesthetics of surprise, materiality, push-back, layering, and others — and attempt to situate them within the larger discourse of generative art and writing practice.

   Jill Walker Rettberg - 09.10.2012 - 21:23

5. Electronic Literature as an Information System

   Electronic literature is a term that encompasses artistic texts produced for printed media which are consumed in electronic format, as well as text produced for electronic media that could not be printed without losing essential qualities. Some have argued that the essence of electronic literature is the use of multimedia, fragmentation, and/or non-linearity. Others focus on the role of computation and complex processing. "Cybertext" does not sufficiently describe these systems. In this paper we propose that works of electronic literature, understood as text (with possible inclusion of multimedia elements) designed to be consumed in bi- or multi-directional electronic media, are best understood as 3-tier (or n-tier) information systems. These tiers include data (the textual content), process (computational interactions) and presentation (on-screen rendering of the narrative). The interaction between these layers produces what is known as the work of electronic literature.

   Jill Walker Rettberg - 09.10.2012 - 21:30

6. The Cuckoo Bird of Fiction: Pastiche, Hoax and the Evolution of Form

   Drawing examples from the free-swinging, rootin'-tootin' 18th century and from the present day, this talk will explore imitation as the sincerest form of innovation. By finding vigorous vernacular forms and investing them with the scope and goals of classical literature, or by projecting wildly onto idealized "foreign" forms, writer/designers have --- at moments of social transition --- pushed, pulled and parodied their cultures toward needed change . . . often laughing all the way. The gesture is that of the cuckoo --- laying one's eggs in another's nest. While offering a historical and theoretical account of this strategy, the presentation will also practice what it preaches --- by performing, live, the latest chapter in an ongoing pastiche fiction. Hang on to your hats!

   Scott Rettberg - 07.01.2013 - 15:35

7. See Spot Link. Link, Spot, Link: How to read and appreciate electronic literature (Workshop)

   Abstract
   What is the difference between reading on screen and reading electronic literature? Between an e-book and an e-lit piece? Electronic literature, or eliterature, uses computer technology as an integral part of the work to convey meaning. Find out about the literary art of links, images, sounds, and motions. Make connections between images and text, between sounds and words, between motions and implications. Uncover an exciting new world where writers expand beyond the page and embrace the screen with an array of new literary techniques.

   Agenda
   This workshop will cover 4 basic elements of electronic literature: links, imagery, motion, and sound. For each element, we will read a portion of works to see these elements in action, take part in an exercise to explore writing using these elements, and discuss techniques to recognize and understand these elements.

   Scott Rettberg - 07.01.2013 - 15:41

8. I like IRC & SMS

   Rita Raley's presentation focuses on the use of IRC and SMS in multimedia installations, net-based projects, and street performances. Projects discussed will likely include "Listening Post" (Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin), "RE:Positioning Fear" (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer), "Urban Scrawl" (Sushma Madan and Neil Noakes), "TXTual Healing" (Paul Notzold), and "Simple Text" (Family Filter). While the chat messages used in "Listening Post" are datamined rather than solicited, the other projects are instances of user-driven media. One clear tension to explore, then, will be that between surveillance and participatory culture. Other themes and issues will include public vs. private space, locative media, and electronic English.

   Scott Rettberg - 07.01.2013 - 16:12

9. Hors-Categorie: An Embodied, Affective Approach to Interactive Fiction

   The interactive fiction work "Hors-Categorie" stages a virtual encounter between bodies in a hotel room along the Tour de France bicycle race. 

   In the story, the player is confronted with a number of decisions regarding his or her body, which, in the game state exists virtually. Various bodily choices—blood doping, shaving one's legs, peeing in a cup—lead to the generation of affects that alter the game state. My effort in writing this work—concerning doping, cyclists, bodies, and ethics—is to think through the potentialities for engaging, designing, and theorizing new media with an emphasis on the embodied nature of affect. 

   Scott Rettberg - 07.01.2013 - 16:21

10. Cavewriting: Spatial Hypertext Authoring System

    In experimental hypertext fiction workshops at Brown University, undergraduate writers work with programmers to create interactive literary experiences in immersive virtual reality. To involve the writer more directly in the process of implementation, we have created CaveWriting: spatial hypertext authoring system. Authors can manipulate a graphical front-end to position text, multimedia, and 3D models within virtual space, apply special effects, and create hyperlinks which initiate theatrical events. The result can be previewed at any time inside a desktop window. This talk will cover the past and present of cavewriting at Brown and its future at UIUC, UCSD, and beyond.

    Jill Walker Rettberg - 07.01.2013 - 22:36

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