The electronic medium has transformed literature in a multitude of ways. In Donna Leishman’s work, “Redridinghood”, the virtual surface provides a means of visual, touch, audio, and interactive objects. You are given different options while navigating throughout the story, which allows the viewer to become an active participant in the story.
Marshall McLuhan states, “Electronic circuitry profoundly involves men with one another” and “We can no longer build serially, block-by-block, step-by-step, because instant communication insures that all factors of the environment and of experience co-exist in a state of active interplay.” (p.63) Leishman’s piece is a good example of this move away from the step-by-step formal organization, and the growth towards a larger scale human experience and interaction as a group or whole entity, rather than the singular focus of print.
The electronic medium has also made it possible to take a classical story and reinvent the manner in which it is told, this gives it the opportunity to once again gain interest by means of a new delivery in a more appealing package. McLuhan says, “The method of our time is to use not a single but multiple models for exploration.” By using a multi-sensory approach, Leishman is maximizing the experience others have with her story. It gives the author and audience a more connected experience where proximity is not an issue and interactions are produced.