RM - Week 1 "Bring it to the Table"

The very first section of Electronic Literature by Scott Rettberg is called "Genres of Electronic Literature." I can say that I quite was surprised when he listed how many genres there were. I never really thought about "electronic/digital literature" before hearing about this class. When I signed up for it I assumed it would mostly be writing on websites, but I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I never once considered things such as interactive textual installations and cinema to be digital literature, but now it is making a lot more sense. I am looking forward to exploring each of the genres and observing their similarities and differences. I enjoyed reading about the controversy between "digital literature" and "electronic literature." To me, they mean the same thing. Still, I can understand the perspective of electronics being "any device powered with electricity" and I completely agree with the idea that the boundaries of "literature" are what Rettberg described as "murky." I enjoyed the article on E-Lit and it most definitely helped better my understanding of what E-lit means. I think the evolution of E-lit is super fascinating, and it's awesome how people were creating amazing works of literature online, even when technology was relatively new. I am really glad that this reading brought up the point of viewing E-lit through its terms, rather than through a lens that would be used for print literature. I think that is super important to understand to grasp the E-lit we will be looking at in this course. 

I explored "The Last Performance" (2007) by Judd Morrissey which was mentioned in Electronic Literature. It seems like the website is no longer working, but there are still images even videos of some of the forms this project has taken on. Like mentioned in the reading, it was a written database project that has been presented online, in a museum, and even as a dance performance. It is meant to comment on the "theme of lastness in relation to architectural forms, a final performance, and the interruption of community."