Rebooting Electronic Literature Volume 3: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media

Interview with Readers about Stuart Moulthrop's "Victory Garden"

As with the Traversal for Moulthrop, interviews were held for the Readers of the work following their Traversals of Victory Garden. These took place on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, and were directly by Grigar and Moulthrop at the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University Vancouver. Both men accessed read Version 1.2 of the work on a Macintosh Classic, the same computer Moulthrop used for his Traversal.

Reader Interview with Patrick Kutkey about Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden

Grigar interviews Kutkey about his experence reading Victory Garden. She begins by asking about Kutkey’s reading experience, how that experience compares to other forms of media such as books, social media, video games, etc. He discusses the graphic and technical leaps we have made in terms of screen size and pixel density. He and Grigar then begin talking about the non-linear experience of hypertext and how it effected his experience with the story. They also explore his choice to navigate by using the map instead of the hyperlinked words. Grigar asks Kutkey what percentage of the story he felt like he was able to reach in his 20-minute reading, and he laughs, responding 2%. Grigar asks if he could imagine what was happening in the unseen parts of the story, and Kutkey continues to discuss the confusion he felt trying to figure out what was happening and how the pieces connected. The two go on to talk about how the vintage hardware and screen resolution influenced the reading experience and address the content of the story, personal connections, and how the writing intrigued him to continue reading. Kutkey also notes how difficult the talk-aloud process during the reading was and the “interruption” of the experience. They concludes the interview by discussing the immersion of the experience.

 

Reader Interview with Sean Philbrook about Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, Part 1

Grigar interviews Philbrook about his experience with Victory Garden, including key differences between the hypertext and other narrative experiences, such as print books, social media, and video games, what compelled Sean to follow certain hyperlinks over others, the unpredictable nature of hypertext, and his personal experience with the piece on a narrative level.
 

Reader Interview with Sean Philbrook about Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, Part 2

Grigar interviews Philbrook about the narrative structure of Victory Garden, how well the hypertextual medium lends itself toward immersion and the differences between experiencing Victory Garden on a desktop computer versus on a mobile device.

Reader Interview with Sean Philbrook about Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, Part 3

Grigar and members of the audience ask Philbrook about the contrasting expectations between a print-based book versus a hypertextual piece and the benefits of interacting with that medium.

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