Module Information

This module explores a variety of texts that examine the relationship between literature and new media. Moving between hypertexts, interactive fictions, blogs, and more traditional print-based texts, we will scrutinise the extent to which the 'literary text' is redefined by technology, and analyses the impact that such developments have on both literary production and reception. Although it is taught through selected texts, it is equally concerned with the ways in which our reading processes are confounded by the various forms studied; it is as much about how we read, discuss, and interpret such texts as it is about the texts themselves. Furthermore, the various assessment methods will allow you to explore your relationship with such technologies, and consider how they affect the writing process.

To cover some of the most recent developments in literary production, and provide students with both a conceptual and theoretical framework through which such texts can be interpreted. Building on students' knowledge of the relationship between text and technology (from EN20120 Reading Theory / Reading Text 1), this module studies technology as medium, formal structure, stylistic device, and thematic concern of literary texts. Furthermore, through the various modes of assessment (blog contributions, print-based essay, and hyperlinked essay), students will be able to reflect on the ways in which such technologies affect the production of their own critical work. This module pre-supposes no prior experience with regards to ICT (other than that already assumed by other modules within the Department, such as the use of MS Word and Blackboard), and thus students will develop these transferable skills over of the duration of the module.