DIGITAL LITERATURE: DEFINITIONS, EMERGING FORMS, ACADEMIC CONTEXTS

Abstract

This research is related to the concept of digital literature, an emerg- ing kind of literature and academically still relatively unexplored. Since digital literature is a largely novel discipline, an academic integrative classification of its diverse definitions, brief historical survey, and a critical discussion of its emerging literary forms are rather obscure so they represent the main focus of this article. Although there is a strong controversy regarding digital literature’s acceptance by the traditional literary audience, critics, and academics, there is ample evidence that it has been embraced by a large group of university-aged students. The latest online teaching activities show students’ growing interest and par- ticipation in reading and devising digital texts, though digital literature has not largely been approved as a part the of school curriculum yet. The impact of digital literature has lately been recorded in academia through the organization of conferences and the creation of associations whose primary goal is to view new literary trends from a scholarly perspective. While the interpretative methods used for print texts do not necessarily apply, similar methodology for the interpretation of digital literature has yet to be developed. The article is divided into the following seg- ments: definitions of e-lit, the bonding of electronic literature and digital humanities, emerging forms, contexts, and concluding remarks with the suggestions for further research. The theoretical framework of the article is based on the critical insights of Hayles, Heckman, O’Sullivan, Pawl- icka, Gordić Petković, Rodić and others.