Scholarly record
THE TRANSMEDIAL RELATIONS OF PRINT LITERATURE AND ELECTRONIC LITERATURE
Abstract
The concept of electronic, or ’born-digital†literature points to literary works that rely on digital media, which form an indispensable part of the aesthetic experience. The concept is only beginning to gain traction in literary studies, and as such, it still represents a relatively obscure part of it. Given that we are poised to rely more and more on digital media in the future, the concept is likely to remain relevant. Nevertheless, as it stands now, the different forms of interaction between electronic and print literature are scarcely researched. This paper deals with one of the under-researched areas, namely the transmedial relations of print literature and electronic literature. It aims to trace and describe the phenomenon of transmediality and transmedial storytelling (primarily in literature) by engaging with relevant theoretical works published on the subject (from theorists like Alice Bell, Marie-Laure Ryan, Mark J. P Wolf or Matthew Freeman) and demonstrate the concept’s usefulness in the context of print-digital literary relations. Furthermore, the paper aims to define various possible transmedial configurations between the abovementioned two domains and demonstrate the concept on a specific example. The example in question is Iain Pears’ Arcadia (2015), a complex novel that presents a storyworld in print and digital form as an iPad application. The paper will explain how a part of the novel contained in the iPad application could be viewed as an example of transmedial storytelling.
Publication Impact Profile
- Captures
- Mendeley - Readers: 3
Publication details
References14
Pressman J., Digital Modernism: Making It New in New Media, New York: OUP, 2014, 224 p.
Pressman J., Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age, New York: Columbia University Press, 2020, 197 p.
Pears I., Arcadia, Faber & Faber [iPad application]
Bell A., Ensslin A., Rustad H. K., Analyzing Digital Fiction, New York: Routledge, 2016, 213 p.
Murray J. H., Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1997, 324 p.
Manovich L., The Language of New Media, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001, 354 p.
Rettberg S., Electronic Literature, Cambridge (UK): polity, 2019, 247 p.
Freeman M., Historicising Transmedia Storytelling: Early Twentieth-Century Transmedia Story Worlds, New York: Routledge, 2017, 210 p.
Ryan M. L., From Possible World to Storyworlds: On the Worldness of Narrative Presentation, in: Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019, pp. 62-87.
Harvey C. B., Transmedia Genres: Form, Content and the Centrality of Memory, in: The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, New York: Routledge, 2019, pp. 157- 164.
Freeman M., Gambarato R. R., Introduction: Transmedia Studies – Where Now?, in: The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, New York: Routledge, 2019, pp. 1-12
Dena C., Transmedia Adaptation: Revisiting the No-Adaptation Rule, in: The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, New York: Routledge, 2019, pp. 195-206.
Wolf M. J. P., Transmedia World-Building: History, Conception and Construction, in: The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, New York: Routledge, 2019, pp. 141-147.
Pears I., Why you need an app to understand my novel, The Guardian, [online article]
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.