What is Electronic Literature?

When the term "electronic literature", or "e-lit", was first introduced to me, I felt that I had a general mental visualization of what this branch of literature may encompass without any further research or explanation. While I was correct in assuming that electronic literature is a hybrid of written text and digital components that can't be replicated through traditional printed text, the e-lit umbrella houses a far more vast variety of digital work than I previously thought. In their article titled, "Electronic Literature: What is it?", N. Katherine Hayles closely reiterated my hypothesis, saying, "Electronic literature, generally considered to exclude print literature that has been digitized, is by contrast 'digital born,' a first-generation digital object created on a computer and (usually) meant to be read on a computer" (Hayles 1). Due to recent and quickly-evolving technology advancements, electronic literature is an aspect of the creative and scholastic world that is still being explained and shaped. Scott Rettberg, in their book aptly titled Electronic Literature, describes this evolution, saying, "Electronic literature is an area that has rapidly developed as a field of creative practice, academic research, and pedagogy over the past half-century, most intensively from the 1990s until the present. Computers and the network have radically affected many aspects of life for a significant proportion of people on the planet" (Rettberg 2). One of the key aspects of any digital project, and specifically projects within the electronic literature branch, is that the project is unable to succeed if the coding behind it is not executed and founded properly (Hayles 1). E-lit enables readers and creators to not only have a new medium of written work to digest, but educates those involved on technology platforms and the coding behind the projects we have at our digital disposal. Electronic literature, in itself, is not in its final stages of conception and being defined, and it is evolving as quickly as the technology being used to create it.

When examining the many referenced works in the beginning chapter of Scott Rettberg's Electronic Literature, the one I decided to look further into was The Internet Unconscious: On the Subject of Electronic Literature by Sandy Baldwin. The Internet Unconscious is Volume 9 of International Texts in Critical Media Aesthetics, a series of written work that critically examines a variety of digital media, from electronic literature to film. Oppositely to Rettberg's Electronic Literature, The Internet Unconscious is a course book that looks into electronic literature from the coding perspective, giving writers and readers a reference to building code that enables electronic literature to exist and operate. The book consists of nine chapters, each of them named with simple slang terms and spelling, which implies that this novel is aimed at beginners with a limited expertise on how coding and software-building works. The number of preview pages are quite limited, previewing the forward, introduction and the first few pages of the first chapter. Despite this, it's quite apparent the kind of resource this book is striving to be: an easy-to-read, relatable perspective for those who are not as technically-savvy. I would be interested in investing in this book, as I feel that the side of coding is the side of digital products that oftentimes goes unappreciated and unnoticed.

A link to Amazon's e-textbook of The Internet Unconscious: On the Subject of Electronic Literature

Sandy Baldwin's page on the Electronic Literature Knowledge Base