From “screen-as-writing” theory to Internet culturology. A French perspective on digital textualities

Abstract

ABSTRACT To which extent do we conceptualise digital research objects through the lenses of the Humanities, within the frame of a long-term cultural history or from the standpoint of a particular intellectual tradition? This paper aims at acquainting global English-speaking researchers with a localised French perspective on digital textualities. In the framework of what has been called the “screen-as-writing” theory (théorie des écrits d’écran), a review of Emmanuël Souchier and Yves Jeanneret’s seminal contributions shows how a French literary heritage led to the development of an original set of concepts for analysing digital textualities. Throughout an autoethnographic journey, their “socio-semiotic” approach is discussed, highlighting collective uses of several key concepts (architexts, passing signs, etc.) for the understanding of hypertextual objects (software, cd-roms, websites, blogs, social media platforms and apps) and contemporary cultural Internet expressions (buzzwords, experiences, gestures).