Digital Works

I found that electronic writing that combine gaming lose narrative power—as we understand it— while those that don’t involve so much gaming have a stronger narrative. For example: the Taroko Gorge and the Bomar Gene have a storyline that is easier to follow than those with more games. The important factor in the creation of these works is the emphasis on incorporating graphic arts and design for the web while delivering a story which not necessarily has to follow a sequence. I think the incorporation of digital technology into the narrative can be compared with prose poetry where freestyle poems lose the rigidity of the genre but still conserve its beauty and sensitivity. In this case the meshing of art, literature, and games presents a context for the developer and programmer that transforms into a challenge for the reader-gamer-explorer. While the artist/author Nelson, tells us not to try to make sense of it, he also tells us to explore, explore, explore. And I wonder is it possible to explore without trying to make sense or arriving to it regardless?

By not trying to make sense, we simply put on hold our preconceived ideas of making sense of things in the way we usually do. And exploring with an open mind we will get to an understanding of the work if not different from what we would arrive to otherwise, at least we would get there in a different way. Is that what this digital or electronic literature is all about, developing a new approach to the genres?

I think that the difference between a regular game and these games is that in a regular game the objective is more focused on beating the opponent or even the creator of the game, to conquer. In these games the stops along the way delivering pieces of literary stimuli create a journey within the game that allows the player construct a storyline parallel to the game which will modify the game experience but will also be modified by it.

Because we are so trained to make sense of things, we will either way arrive to a conclusion after the exploration. These works can’t be figured out completely after a few engagements but a familiarity with them will eventually create a concept and all the confusion that now overwhelms us will go away and we will be able to appreciate the paths that connect graphics, lines, text, and colors, or where they are not supposed to connect.

One thought on “Digital Works”

  1. I agree with your point about the tension between gaming (more loosely conceived as “interacting”) and narrative. More choices for the reader/player can absolutely dilute the narrative power of the work. This isn’t true all the time, of course. And in the case of Jason Nelson’s work, everything is more complicated because I get the sense that he doesn’t care much about narrative per se. He’s looking for some other kind of impact.

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