Chapter 7: Divergent Streams

Chapter 7 of our textbook was about basically everything else that hadn't been covered yet, or divergent streams. I would describe these forms of digital literature as things you would not consider to be digital literature at first. Some examples are virtual reality, performance, installation art, and cinema environments. These forms are all very immersive and have a physical element. I think that virtual reality is the most obvious one in terms of being digital literature, and it gives the author a lot of freedom to create whatever they want and have a lot of control over the viewer's experience. I think that installation pieces and performances would be the least likely for people to recognize them as digital literature, but I think they are the most interesting forms. I think they are extra special because not many people have access to them and everyone's experience could be different. However, this is also limiting, because less people would get to see the art and watching a video online is not the same, which I realized when I did my analysis on Margaret Rhee's Kimchi Poetry Machine.

I decided to look at Teri Reub's Itinerant, which is a locative narrative that takes place around Boston Common, so that if you are in Boston you could follow the map while you listen. When you hover over a spot on the map, audio plays. I found it difficult to follow because parts of the story are pieces of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (digital authors must really like that book!), while the other parts are a story about an uncle who would randomly come into his family's life and tells them stories and causes chaos. It is also one of those pieces that does not need to be read in order, although I would think if you are walking around Boston Common you would want to go in order by location.

http://terirueb.net/itinerant-2005/

Meg Champagne