Digital literature affords not only interactive and multi-medial narratives, but also allows for participatory storytelling, especially online – situations in which readers can participate in an unfolding narrative. This lecture will investigate why authors and readers alike would even want to enter a participatory space, how it differs from interactive fiction, how it relates to traditional interpretation, what forms participatory storytelling can take in online settings like reddit, and what patterns and dynamics can be found there. Gérard Genette’s concept of paratext and Roland Barthes’ “Death of the Author” will be as relevant as more specialised theory in order to analyse strategies used by authors and readers alike to balance control, authority, and narrative trajectory on the one hand, and intersubjective exchange and resonance on the other.
Bio:
Dr Annika Elstermann is a lecturer and researcher in anglophone literature and culture at Heidelberg University. Her first book, Digital Literature and Critical Theory, brings together popular and culturally significant forms of digital literature with more traditional theory. Other research interests include digitalisation as a cultural process, and in narratives about unexplored spaces.