Syllabus

Part 1: Introduction to the Field and Its Community

Monday, January 7
Zoom meeting
Introduction to Electronic Literature, scholarly resources, and research methodologies
Resources Provided by the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO)

Organization Website
Electronic Literature Directory
Electronic Literature Collections, 1, 2 and 3
ELO Repository, includes:

  • Turbulence.org
  • trAce Online Writing Centre’s frAmejournal
  • ELO Collection
  • Pathfinders: Documenting the Experience of Early Digital Literature
  • BeeHive journal
  • The Museum of the Essential and Beyond That
  • The N. Katherine Hayles Collection
  • The Sarah Smith Collection
  • The David Kolb Collection
  • The Robert Kendall Collection

The accompanying website hosting web-based works in the ELO Repository can be found here.

CELL Search Engine
ELO book series with Bloomsbury Press, “Electronic Literature” 

Other Resources

ELMCIP.net
Rebooting Electronic Literature: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media
Pathfinders: Documenting the Experience of Early Digital Literature
Electronic Book Review
Hyperrhiz
I Love E-Poetry

Due by next Monday: Rettberg’s Electronic Literature (EL). Each student chooses one e-lit work from the resources listed above and be ready to discuss it during the next class in relation to its genre, as suggested from the reading.

Part 2: Introduction to the Form

Monday, January 14
Face to face meeting
Discussion of Rettberg’s EL. Discussion of e-lit works from the resources in relation to its genre, as suggested from the reading.

Due by January 28:  There will be no class next week. Know that on the 28thyou should have read selected essays from the journal, Electronic Book Review, including John Cayley’s “Grammalepsy: An introduction;” Hayles’ “Literary texts as Cognitive Assemblages: The Case of Electronic Literature;” Anna Nacher’s “In Praise of the (Post) Digital;” and Will Luers’ “Getting Lost in Narrative Virtuality.” Each essay will be introduced by a student (See Suggestions & Reminders); Dennis Jerz’s “Hypertext Essays: An Introduction”

Monday, January 21
Martin Luther King Day—This is no class scheduled on this day. You have been given an assignment that will take you through this week.

Monday, January 28
Zoom meeting
Discussion of the assigned essays, led by students in the course. 

Due by next Monday: Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1 of John Cayley’s Grammalepsy and his essay “The advent of aurature and the end of (electronic) literature,” in The Bloomsbury Handbook. We had to switch our readings, as I mentioned during the last class, to others by Cayley, “Indras’s Net” (both versions), “Speaking Clock,” and “River Island” (both versions) were not easily accessible. Since I was planning to hold a f2f class today, I chose:

Monday, February 4
Face to face meeting
Discussion of Cayley’s chapter and e-lit works.

Due by next Monday: Caitlin Fisher’s “Future Fiction Storytelling Machines,” Stuart Moulthrop’s “Intimate Mechanics,” Manuel Portela’s The Machine in the Text, and the Text in the Machine,” & Alex Saum Pascual’s Teaching Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: A Proposal,” “Post-Digital Writing,” Martin Paul Eve’s “Scarcity and Abundance,” and Joseph Tabbi’s “Relocating the Literary: In Networks, Knowledge Bases, Global Systems, Material and Mental Environments;” Lev Manovich, “The Language of New Media” (Chapter 1)

Monday, February 11
Zoom meeting
Discussion of essays:

Caitlin Fisher’s “Future Fiction Storytelling Machines,” Stuart Moulthrop’s “Intimate Mechanics,” Manuel Portela’s The Machine in the Text, and the Text in the Machine,” Alex Saum Pascual’s Teaching Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: A Proposal,” Florian Cramer’s “Post-Digital Writing,” Martin Paul Eve’s “Scarcity and Abundance,” and Joseph Tabbi’s “Relocating the Literary: In Networks, Knowledge Bases, Global Systems, Material and Mental Environments;” Lev Manovich, “The Language of New Media” (Chapter 1)

Reminder Dani Spinosa’s Anarchists in the Academy: Machines and Free Readers in Experimental Poetry is due by March 4. Each student will choose a work of e-poetry to study and report on during the next class (See suggested works listed on the E-Lit Works by Genre list).

Monday, February 18
President’s Day. There is no class scheduled for this day. You have been given an assignment that will take you through this week.

Monday, February 25
Zoom meeting
Discussion of essays: We will continue talking through the essays. We will focus on the ones we did not get to spend much time on during the last class meeting.

Due by next Monday: Dani Spinosa’s Anarchists in the Academy: Machines and Free Readers in Experimental Poetry. Each student will choose a work of e-poetry to study and report on during the next class (See suggested works listed on the E-Lit Works by Genre list).

Part 3: A Deep Dig into Works

Monday, March 4: E-Poetry
Face to face meeting 
Spinosa’s book; presentations of e-poetry by students.

Due by Monday March 18:  Robert Coover’s “The End of Books;” Illya Szilak’s “The Death of the Novel: How E-Lit Revolutionizes Fiction;” and Prospero’s “The Real Future of Electronic Literature.” 

Monday, March 11: Spring Break

Monday, March 18

Zoom meeting
Link to Google Doc for Today’s Class
A Zoom chat with Dani Spinosa, author of Anarchists in the Academy; discussion of readings: Robert Coover’s “The End of Books;” Illya Szilak’s “The Death of the Novel: How E-Lit Revolutionizes Fiction;” and Prospero’s “The Real Future of Electronic Literature.” 

Due by March 25: Read Ensslin’s Literary Games. Read also one literary game from the list provided.

Monday, March 25: Literary Games
Zoom meeting
Discussion of Ensslin’s book; presentations of literary games

Due by next Monday: View Eduardo Kac’s “Inner Telescope, “ (all videos on the DVD); read Chs. 1-4 Kac’s Media Poetry.

“Space Poetry” website
Inner Telescope information, including video
Media Poetry (free online and on the web)

Monday, April 1: Artist Focus
Face to face meeting
Discussion of videos and readings relating to Eduardo Kac’s work 
We will spend time today one-on-one mentoring sessions determining the direction of your final projects.

“Space Poetry” website
Inner Telescope information. I will be screening the video in class tomorrow.
Media Poetry (free online and on the web)

Due by next Monday: Read Grigar’s “Sappho Syndrome,” (from the book Traversals); Grigar & Moulthrop’s Pathfinders, & Grigar et al’s Rebooting Electronic Literature. Students will select one work of electronic literature featured in Pathfindersand Rebootingand report on it in the next class.

Part 4: Issues Relating to Born Digital Literature

Monday, April 8: Obsolescence
Zoom meeting
Discussion of “Sappho Syndrome,” Pathfinders, Rebooting E-Lit; students’ report

Due by next Monday:  Research Judd Morrissey, Lori Talley, “My Name is Captain, Captain; read Morrissey’s The Jew’s Daughter,” “Last Performance,”

Monday, April 15: Artist Focus: Judd Morrissey
Zoom meeting
Discussion of essays and works by Judd Morrissey, including “My Name is Captain, Captain”; read Morrissey’s The Jew’s Daughter,” “Last Performance,” Jessica Pressman’s The Very Essence of Poetry: Judd Morrissey & Lori Talley’s ‘My Name is Captain, Captain;’” John Zuern’s “Letters That Matter.” 

Due by next Monday:  Piotr Marecki and Nick Montfort’s “Renderings: Translating Literary Works in the Digital Age,”  Nick Montfort’s “Minding the Electronic Literature,” Jan Baetens’ “Creating New Constraints: Toward a Theory of Writing as Digital Translation,” Manuel Portela, Maria Mencia, & Soren Pold’s “Electronic Literature Translation”

Monday, April 22: Translation
Zoom meetings
Dicussion of Piotr Marecki and Nick Montfort’s “Renderings: Translating Literary Works in the Digital Age,”  Nick Montfort’s “Minding the Electronic Literature,” Jan Baetens’ “Creating New Constraints: Toward a Theory of Writing as Digital Translation,” Manuel Portela, Maria Mencia, & Soren Pold’s “Electronic Literature Translation”

Monday, April 29: Final Projects
I will be on campus for this final meeting. You will each give a 10 minute formal presentation of your work. This includes a visual element, such as a slide show, website, etc.