Literary Spaces in Digital Environments

 N. Katherine Hayles (2008) opens Chapter 1 of her latest book, Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary, with an imaginary scene from a fifteenth century scriptorium.  In this quiet place devoted to hand-copying manuscripts, Brother Paul, the overseer of the work, discovers that Brother Jacob has brought a mechanically printed (horror of horrors!) codex into this sacred place.  Hayles reminds readers that technological changes have always created unease amongst those who privilege the sacred nature of the traditional.

 Her mythical scriptorium master, Brother Paul, interrogates the new technology this way:  If books could be produced by fast, cheap, and mechanical means, their value as precious artifacts would be compromised.  Moreover, if any Thomas, Richard, or Harold could find his way into print, would not writing itself be compromised and become commonplace scribbling?  And how would the spread of cheap printed materials affect the culture of the Word, bringing scribbling into every hut and hovel whose occupants had hitherto relied on priests to interpret writing for them? (2)

 With this analogy, Hayles brings into play many of questions now circulating around the rise of electronic literature, permitting her to frame questions she subsequently addresses in her book, such as  “Is electronic literature really literature at all?” and  “Is literary quality possible in digital media or is electronic literature demonstrably inferior to the print canon?” (2)

 For her purposes, electronic literature is not digitalized works such as those found on bartleby.com or Project Gutenberg.  Shakespeare is not, and never will be, electronic literature by this definition.  Hayles focuses on works that have been written exclusively for digital media, ranging from CDs, DVDs, from the Internet to Web 2.0.

 Hayles refers to the definition given by The Electronic Literature Organization:  “work with an important literary aspect that takes advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer” (qtd on 3).

 Does Hayles’ definition mean that any text created using a “stand-alone” computer is electronic literature?  Note the qualifying descriptors used:  important literary aspect  takes advantage of the capabilities and contexts

 What do you think should be included in electronic literature?  What experiences have you had with creative writing on the web?  Why did you (or would you) choose to read creative works in a digital environment?  How are creative writing on the web different from print? How is it the same?

 Even though readers should not judge electronic literature by print standards, most readers will bring expectations and habits about literature grounded firmly in their interactions with print.

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