Digital media is slowly transforming the way we read, write, and study literature, and literary studies need to embrace that which is native to digital media in order to stay relevant in an increasingly post-literate world. The study of electronic literature thrives mainly in the margins of the discipline, in specialized journals and in highly technical areas (such as the digital humanities). The problem is that many literary scholars and educators cannot relate to these discussions well because they don’t have the specialized training required. The field of electronic literature needs to move in from the margins of academia in order to strengthen the discipline of literary studies. One way to do so is to employ well established critical tools – such as close reading, biographical study, and bibliographic scholarship—and updating them with more recent media-savvy approaches, such as critical code studies, software studies, media-specific analysis, and digital preservation methods. My presentation will provide an overview of my current research and efforts to bring electronic literature and updated critical tools to mainstream academic audiences.
My guest lecture will be on Monday, September 17 from 13:15 – 14:00 in Room 301 in HF Building at UiB.