March 26 - comments on "A Bibliographic Overview of E-lit."

In reading Amanda Star Gould's article "A Bibliographic Overview of Electronic Literature," I was again stuck by the complexity that exists within and behind pieces of electronic literature.  The article was addressing the new and complex ways electronic literature may be read and analyzed.  The way traditional literature has been read, categorized, and analyzed in the past won't work for electronic literature, or it works but only to a certain point.  The use of code and interactivity of e-lit. propels literary criticism forward into new areas.  Wardrip-Fruin suggests that one should read digital literature critically but also read it digitally.  Readers/students would need to be trained, so that they are able to appreciate "literary systems and structures."  These comments reflect my own experience with electronic literature.  The first pieces we read as a class,I read through the traditional lens of analysis.  What I am realizing and learning to appreciate are the many layers that adding sound, animation, images, flash, hypertext, and more are having on a piece.  Also, how the author uses these layers to create greater meaning within a piece.  Francisco Ricardo asks whether electronic literature should be grounded in "stable theory" or "move beyond to a new interdisciplinary space."  The potential of taking electronic literature beyond traditional methods of analysis in order to acknowledge its unique form of complexity makes sense to me.  For students to learn, understand, and appreciate how a code or a function is utilized or created by an author to perform a function of layered meaning and purpose is incredibly creative.  That said, one of my concerns with electronic literature is when authors rely heavily on the electronic aspect for a piece and neglect the literature aspect.  Good writing should not be given a back seat to electronic "tricks."

Questions:
What "interdisciplinary" applications do you see electronic literature having?

Is your description of good writing different when comparing and contrasting traditional literature and electronic literature?

In what way and for what purpose should electronic literature be used in a classroom?