Syllabus

Introduction to Electronic Literature
Led by Dene Grigar and Davin Heckman

Day 1 Overview of the Form and Field

10:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Approaches to the Art Form, Scholarship, Organizations, Publications & Publishers, Communities: Local and Global, Place in DH

Readings:

  • Walker Rettberg, Jill. “Electronic Literature Seen from a Distance: The Beginnings of a Field.” Electronic Literature Communities. Ed. Scott Rettberg, Patricia Tomaszek and Sandy Baldwin. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press, 2015. 11-28.
  • Rettberg, Scott. Developing an Identity for the Field of Electronic Literature.” Electronic Literature Communities. Ed. Scott Rettberg, Patricia Tomaszek and Sandy Baldwin. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press, 2015. 81-112.
  • Grigar, Dene. “Electronic Literature and Digital Humanities: Opportunities for Practice, Scholarship, and Teaching.” Doing Digital Humanities. Ed. Constance Crompton, Richard J. Lane, and Ray Siemens. NY, NY: Routledge Press, 2016. 193-196.

Online Resources:

  • Electronic Literature Collection 3. Electronic Literature Organization. Ed. Leonardo Flores, Anastasia Salter, Jacob Garbe, and Stephanie Boluk. Cambridge, MA. 2016.
  • Grigar, Dene, Kathi Inman Berens, and Lori Emerson. Resources for the Study and Teaching of Electronic Literature. 2012. http://dtc-wsuv.org/mla2012/resources.html

1:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Theories—MSA, Platform and Code Studies, Textual Studies

Readings:

Demonstrations:

Day 2 Reading & Analyzing E-Lit

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Author’s and Works, Part 1

Readings:

  • Moulthrop, Stuart and Dene Grigar. “The Many Faces of Judy Malloy’s Uncle Roger.” Traversals: The Use of Preservation for Early Electronic Writing. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2017. Excerpt from chapter.
  • Ensslin, Astrid. “Playing With Rather Than by Rules.” Literary Gaming. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2014. 21-36.
  • Pressman, Jessica, Mark Marino, and Jeremy Douglass. “Context: Situating Project in the Field of Electronic Literature.” Reading Project: A Collaborative Analysis of William Poundstone’s Project for Tachistoscope {Bottomless Pit}. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2015. 5-19.

Demonstrations:

1:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Author’s and Works, Part 2

In-Class Activity:

Participants will read one-three works of e-lit from the list of works prepared for them. You will then lead a presentation of the one of them with the class.

Deena Larsen – Shandean Ambles
Felix Remirez – Sample Automatic Poem
Geof Huth – Endemic Battle Collage
John Cayley – riverIsland
Jorg Piringer – Unicode Infinite
Kate Pullinger – Inanimate Alice (Episodes 3 – 5)
Kathi Inman Berens – Tournedo Gorges
Leonardo Flores – ELC3 Bot
M. D. Coverley – Fibonacci’s Daughter
Mark Marino & Rob Wittig – Being @Spencerpratt
Mark Sample – Takei, George
Nick Montfort – Taroko Gorge
Scott Rettberg – Tokyo Garage
Talan Memmott – Toy Garbage
Tan Lin – Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Systems Theory
Ted Warnell – Poem by Nari Does Windows
YHCHI – The Struggle Continues
Zach Whalen – Pigeon Forge

Day 3: Writing about E-Lit

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Scholarly Databases

Online Resources:

  • Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice (ELMCIP)’s Knowledge Base
  • Electronic Literature Directory (ELD)
  • I ♥ E-Poetry, by Leonardo Flores

In-Class Activity:

Participants will take the works from the list provided them, and write ELMCIP entries for it.

1:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Examples of Scholarly Writings about E-Lit

Examples:

 

In-Class Activity:

Participants will produce a short analysis about one of the works they have read in the class. They will add their work to the ELD.

Day 4: Teaching E-Lit

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Creating a Syllabi for E-Lit

Examples:

Activity:

Participants will produce a syllabus and, then, present their syllabus to the class.

1:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Teaching E-Lit

Working in teams, participants will pick a topic relating to e-lit (author, genre, theory, approach), prepare a module for it, and teach the module to the class.

Day 5: Making E-Lit

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Learning the Tools

Online Resource:

  • Twinery
    This is an excellent resource for making a Twine narrative. This site includes downloads for both Twine 1 and Twine 2 as well as links to the Forum and WIKI.

In-Class Activity:

Participants will make a work of e-lit.