Introduction to Rebooting Electronic Literature
Rebooting Electronic Literature is an open-source, multimedia book that documents seven pre-web works of electronic literature from the Electronic Literature Lab (ELL) directed by Dene Grigar at Washington State University Vancouver. The seven works selected for this project are among the most unique and fragile. Sarah Smith's King of Space (1991), the first documented e-lit work of science fiction, was produced with Hypercard 2.0 and a specially created programming language called Kingwriter. David Kolb's Socrates in the Labyrinth (1994) is one of a handful of hypertext essays produced during the pre-web period and certainly the only one focusing on philosophy. Jane Yellowlees Douglas' "I Have Said Nothing" (1993), which—along with Michael Joyce’s afternoon: a story—appeared in W. W. Norton & Co.’s Postmodern American Fiction (1997), the only works of electronic literature ever published in one of its many collections. Thomas M. Disch's AMNESIA (1986) is an adventure game that represents the last published by Electronic Arts and one of a handful authored by a prominent print writer. Other works covered in this book include Mary-Kim Arnold's "Lust" (1993); Rob Kendall's Life Set for Two (1996); and Judy Malloy's its name was Penelope (1989,1993).
The documentation methodology centers on two important processes: First, live performances––or what Grigar and Stuart Moulthrop call Traversals––streamed on YouTube of readers and/or authors performing the work on the hardware and software on which the works were originally intended; second, audience engagement via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube live chat. Along with videos of the live stream Traversals and screenshots of social media posts, the book features images of the packaging of the work, such as folios, floppy disks, manuals, and paper inserts. It also includes historical information about the work and critical essays.
As with the works documented in the Pathfinders project, these seven works were produced with specially created software like Kingwriter and the King Edward Adventure game authoring system or proprietary software, Storyspace and HyperCard. All require a degree of interactivity between the reader and the work. They were also among the first computer-based works of literature to be sold commercially in the U.S. Due to their availability through commercial distribution, these works were influential in shaping literary theory and criticism that are currently used to discuss born digital writing. These works are in danger of becoming inaccessible to the public because they were produced on and for computer platforms that today are obsolete and, save for AMNESIA and its name was Penelope, have not been ported to contemporary media.
In developing the project, we continue to provide information helpful to scholars. Publication dates, versions, and production methods have been vetted by publishers and artists when possible. Thus, we hope to clear up discrepancies relating to this information as well as offer previously unknown details about these works. Jane Yellowlees Douglas' "I Have Said Nothing," for example, has a publication date of 1993 but appears in the Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext in Winter 1994. The CD version was released in 1998. Correcting the record with precise information ensures authority control and mitigates potential confusions and ambiguity.
This open-source, multimedia book is made possible by the Lewis E. and Stella G. Buchanan Distinguished Professorship and support by Washington State University Vancouver. Many other individuals and organizations provided support for our research.
Creative Media & Digital Culture Program at Washington State University Vancouver, Professor Nicholas Schiller served as the lead co-author of the book. Undergraduate research assistants in the Electronic Literature Lab undertook much of the content development for the book. Vanessa Rhodes wrote the descriptions of the physical artifacts relating to the seven works; Veronica Whitney and Katie Bowen photographed the physical artifacts and optimized them for presentation; and Mariah Gwin created the video clips from the video captured from the live stream and prepared them for the book. Greg Philbrook provided technical support for most of the traversals and interviews. Finally, we adapted the design that Professor Will Luers, faculty member in the CMDC program, created for Pathfinders.
Finally, we thank the Electronic Literature Organization for its leadership in developing methods for evaluating quality of digital creative and critical works and its insights into cataloging its growing body of digital fiction, poetry, and other literary forms––activities from which this research grows.
The documentation methodology centers on two important processes: First, live performances––or what Grigar and Stuart Moulthrop call Traversals––streamed on YouTube of readers and/or authors performing the work on the hardware and software on which the works were originally intended; second, audience engagement via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube live chat. Along with videos of the live stream Traversals and screenshots of social media posts, the book features images of the packaging of the work, such as folios, floppy disks, manuals, and paper inserts. It also includes historical information about the work and critical essays.
As with the works documented in the Pathfinders project, these seven works were produced with specially created software like Kingwriter and the King Edward Adventure game authoring system or proprietary software, Storyspace and HyperCard. All require a degree of interactivity between the reader and the work. They were also among the first computer-based works of literature to be sold commercially in the U.S. Due to their availability through commercial distribution, these works were influential in shaping literary theory and criticism that are currently used to discuss born digital writing. These works are in danger of becoming inaccessible to the public because they were produced on and for computer platforms that today are obsolete and, save for AMNESIA and its name was Penelope, have not been ported to contemporary media.
In developing the project, we continue to provide information helpful to scholars. Publication dates, versions, and production methods have been vetted by publishers and artists when possible. Thus, we hope to clear up discrepancies relating to this information as well as offer previously unknown details about these works. Jane Yellowlees Douglas' "I Have Said Nothing," for example, has a publication date of 1993 but appears in the Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext in Winter 1994. The CD version was released in 1998. Correcting the record with precise information ensures authority control and mitigates potential confusions and ambiguity.
This open-source, multimedia book is made possible by the Lewis E. and Stella G. Buchanan Distinguished Professorship and support by Washington State University Vancouver. Many other individuals and organizations provided support for our research.
Creative Media & Digital Culture Program at Washington State University Vancouver, Professor Nicholas Schiller served as the lead co-author of the book. Undergraduate research assistants in the Electronic Literature Lab undertook much of the content development for the book. Vanessa Rhodes wrote the descriptions of the physical artifacts relating to the seven works; Veronica Whitney and Katie Bowen photographed the physical artifacts and optimized them for presentation; and Mariah Gwin created the video clips from the video captured from the live stream and prepared them for the book. Greg Philbrook provided technical support for most of the traversals and interviews. Finally, we adapted the design that Professor Will Luers, faculty member in the CMDC program, created for Pathfinders.
Finally, we thank the Electronic Literature Organization for its leadership in developing methods for evaluating quality of digital creative and critical works and its insights into cataloging its growing body of digital fiction, poetry, and other literary forms––activities from which this research grows.
