Engagement
Engagement - noun
1. a formal agreement to get married.
2. something that engages (ex to hold the attention of)
Electronic literature allows for readers and consumers of said literature to experience engagement that print media simply cannot provide. Christopher Funkhouser describes one of these methods of engagement in his work on digital media. He lists what he classifies as four main forms of hypertext works, one of which is a visual work that the reader has to negotiate and explore themselves. This allows a realm of possibility to open up, far beyond the typical relationship readers have with print literature.
One example of this a project called The Knotted Line, a work referenced to in Miriam Posner's explanation on the unexplored possibilities of digital humanities. The Knotted Line is a webpage that shows a series of winding, interconnected lines and illustrations. Only by clicking and dragging the lines around can the reader reveal the true message of the work. On the "other side" of the line are entirely different illustrations as well as small nodes of information which explain and describe the systematic oppression faced by people of the color in the United States. Rather than passively read the information, readers have to physically look for the information, thus providing a multimedia experience that forces the reader to engage with the work in an entirely new way.
