Electronic Literature

In this survey, N. Katherine Hayles identifies electronic literature as a distinct field that demands new interpretive strategies. She analyzes various genres, such as hypertext fiction, kinetic poetry, and networked art, while examining how the material constraints of digital hardware influence narrative structure. Central to her argument is the co-evolution of human users and intelligent machines. Hayles rejects the idea that technology or biology should hold theoretical priority, instead focusing on the recursive relationship between embodied writers and the software performing the text. She concludes that because most modern literature begins as digital files, print should be viewed as a specific output of electronic data rather than an isolated medium.

Scholars and students of media studies read this book to understand the shift from page-bound literacy to screen-based interactivity. It provides a formal vocabulary for discussing works that rely on code, animation, and user participation. Readers gain a framework for integrated literary analysis that accounts for both human cognition and machine processing. The text serves as a roadmap for integrating digital-born works into traditional humanities curricula, offering practical methods for evaluating non-linear and multimodal storytelling.

Deep and open-ended; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?