Editing E-Lit Wiki

ENG 116B: Introduction to Electronic Literature

What is not electronic literature today? Rather than introduce electronic literature or “e-lit” as a [[distinct]] literary [[category]], this course wonders if it’s still possible to consider literature [[beyond]] the electronic circuits that characterize the networked present. The [[creation]] and study of literature today is facilitated by a range of [[digital]] formats and networked [[consoles]], each of which introduce [[new]] [[practices]] of production, circulation, reception, and [[reading]]. Alongside these [[transformations]], we’ll explore a range of new literary genres inhabiting, for example, computer scripts, image macros, flash movies, social media, bandcamp releases, [[interactive]] applications, and print on demand books. Thinking through the present, this introduction examines the history and future of literature through the everyday experience of computers and electronic devices. From the history of digital poetics to recent internet publications, we’ll track the development of [[literature]] under the influence of computation up to works published in the present, as they emerge throughout the quarter. In lockstep, the course considers the category of “electronic literature” as a way to think about historical works remediated to the internet, in a wide range of [[(post-)]]digital formats. The course requires short weekly responses in an open format, as well as a mid-term and final assignment, which may be critical or creative in form, developed in conversation with the instructor. No previous experience in programming, [[poetry]], or literature is required.