Month: January 2019

Tuesday, January 29

• In class:
  • Discussion of combinatorial poetry
  • Discussion:
    • “The Policeman’s Beard is Half Constructed” and Markov Chain Generators.
    • “Taroko Gorge“
    • “Taroko Gorge and its Remixes“
    • Taper
• Assignment:
  • Readings:
    • Electronic Literature, pgs. 51-53
    • Explore one or several editions of “NaNoGenMo” (click on the “Issues” on the top menu to see the novels) and sample some of the completed novels.
    • Explore the Bot Collection in the ELC3.
    • Use the “What Would I Say?” app on your Facebook account.
  • Write a 1-paragraph response to one of the NaNoGenMo novels that most drew your attention. Post your response as a comment on this post in Facebook Group, along with a link to the work you responded to. Your response is due before class on Thursday.

Thursday, January 31

• In class:
  • Discussion of 3rd generation combinatorial literature.
• Assignment:
  • Readings:
    • Electronic Literature, pgs. 54-68.
    • “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges
    • Read Wikipedia entry on Choose Your Own Adventure books.
    • Read Underground Kingdom by Edward Packard (I recommend downloading the PDF).
  • Write a 1-paragraph response to The Underground Kingdom or “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Post it in our Facebook Group before class on Tuesday.

Tuesday, January 22

• In class:
  • Discussion of Surrealism, Dada, the Oulipo, and Combinatory poetics.
    • Cut-up
    • Mad Libs
    • OULIPO
    • Magnetic Poetry
  • Discussion of Electronic Literature Genres
• Assignment:
  • Readings:
    • Electronic Literature, pgs. 30-41
    • Read “Christopher Strachey’s 1950’s Love Machine“
    • Read “Christopher Strachey loveletters (1952)“
    • Read all the poems in “Memory Slam“
  • Write a 1-paragraph response to one of the poems in “Memory Slam” placing it in conversation with the ideas explored in class. Post your response as a reply to this link in our Facebook Group. Your response is due before class on Thursday.

Thursday, January 24

• In class:
  • Discussion of combinatorial poetry
  • Discussion:
    • “The Policeman’s Beard is Half Constructed“
    • “Taroko Gorge“
    • “Taroko Gorge and its Remixes“
    • Taper
• Assignment:
  • Readings:
    • Electronic Literature, pgs. 41-53
    • Read “Genre: Bot” in the ELC3 and explore its bots.
    • Explore one edition of “NaNoGenMo” and sample some of the completed novels.
  • Write a 1-paragraph response to one of the bots or novels that drew your attention most. Post your response in our Facebook Group, along with a link to the work you responded to. Your response is due before class on Thursday.

Tuesday, January 15

• In class:
  • Intros
  • Pair and share: literary media
• Assignment:
  • Order / Download your textbook: Electronic Literature by Scott Rettberg (available here).

Thursday, January 17

• In class:
  • Discussion of media, communication, and creativity
    • Intro: “Why I Am Not A Painter” (sardines)
    • Typewriter (example) (another)
  • Electronic literature genres
• Assignment:
  • Read Electronic Literature, Chapter 1 (available free in Amazon book preview – click “look inside”) and the beginning of Chapter 2 (pages 20-30).
  • Read “The Route of a Text Message” by Scott Weingart
  • Join our Facebook Group and comment on the link to “The Route of a Text Message” with a 1-paragraph response to the article. Comment on what struck you most about it, seeking to place it in conversation with the topics we’ve been discussing in the class. This is due before our next class.

Welcome to Three Generations of Electronic Literature!

This course offers an introduction to literature that engages the expressive potential of electronic and digital media. The course will be structured through a historical framework that proposes three generations of electronic literature: the first from 1951 to 1995, the second from the launching of the Web in 1995 to the present, and a third that arises circa 2005 with the rise of social media networks and app-based platforms. Through this generational focus, the course will explore the main electronic literature genres and the artistic and literary movements they arise from and respond to. Finally, the course will explore a model of stages of social adoption of electronic literature: approach, discovery, experimentation, and adoption.