Response: "Electronic Literature: What Is It?" by N. Katherine Hayles

Reading this article makes me excited about Electronic Literature. There are so many possibilities surrounding this new form of literature, which is why I wanted this internship with MITH in the first place. This article is a great introduction to the field, but much of the language is lost in me and an inability to see many of the references makes it difficult to understand. I do plan to read this again when I have a better understanding of the field. Also, the "Electronic Literature Collection: Volume One" is a very helpful tool to be viewed alongside this article. It really helped me understand what Katherine is writing about.

The most interesting aspect of electronic literature so far is Generative art and the Flash poem. As an English major, I have a deep interest in the power of words. Their form, representation, and meaning can be very creative just on print, but the addition of electronic media adds a whole new interesting dimension. Again, there is now a new world of possibilities for authors and readers/viewers/players to create and interpret works of poetry. Philippe Bootz's work The Set of U is a simple and short example of an author’s ability to change words and meaning using graphics. There is a linear advancement of the poem which is like all forms of print, but the interesting part is that as the words move around the page the reader is able to move with the poem creating different meanings and phrases from where the words start and finish and while they move. This is exactly what I like about poetry - the openness of it - and it is exciting to just get a taste of the possibilities.

Flash poems are equally interesting. Robert Kendall's "Faith" changes it's meaning from stage to stage, creatively adding words to the previous ones to create a new and developing poem, but what I like most is the development of the stages. As the words fall or slide into place the meaning develops. I also like the animation of words doing what they say, like when "going" goes. The first screen is evident of the great possibilities of Electronic Literature as a new form or method of creating poetry. Instead of saying that logic can not break Faith, Kendall lets "logic" bounce off of "Faith," clearly communicating his intended meaning.

I hope that through this internship I will be given the chance to create some of my own work. I should have a new Macbook soon and I am excited about utilizing its capabilities. The grouping of so many genres and technologies seems to me to be the greatest spark for Electronic Literature. As technology advances (so so fast) even more things will be possible. I agree with Katherine that previous expectations of what literature should be must be incorporated into this new medium, but I believe this does not limit artists at all. Literature is open-ended. The point of it is to progress and change and I believe this art form is revolutionary. Just as the printing press opened literature to the masses and as the novel created new possibilities, electronic literature will include new artists into the realm of literature. Film, literature, computer code, graphics, and sound are all meshed together now. Also, the wall between author and reader is crumbling. With interactive stories the reader becomes the author (the author is now perhaps a new form of narrator, guiding the reader/creator along).

I am truly excited about this internship and I can't wait to get deeper into it.