Re: [-empyre-] various posts

[hazel smith <hazel.smith@canberra.edu.au>]

>> > Patrick said
>> >
>> > >Also, does the online/virtual actually allow for rich new
>> > methodologies of the construction of narrative through techniques such as
>> > virtual terrains(VR), associative mindmapping, Augmented Reality overlays,
>> > or multimodal representations?
>> >
>

I've read both yr emails Patrick,  and agree (to the degree that I
understand you ) that these  different cyber environments you mention might
produce very different types of multi-dimentionsal structures, and ones
impossible in print.  However structure isn't the same as narrative, while
navigating information seems to be something different again, so I'm not
sure that you can necesarily talk about them all in the same breath.    I'm
intrigued by your use of the word narrative here which seems to imply some
kind of story element: of course once you start to push narrative to its
limits you often end up with the breakdown of narrative and the
predominance of poetic (the one exists in the other).    But it does seem
to me that the kind of multidimensional environments you describe could
push narartive into much more complex spatio -temporal realisations and
reader /writer relationships than we've previously experienced,  and  that
these structures  could still be recognisable as narratives,  however
overlayed and multiplicitous they might be.

Margie -glad you have come on board. There was an excellent talk,
incidentally,  by Robert Kendall at the  DAC conference on he Electronic
Literature Organisation directory -which will be a wonderful resource!
Maybe you could tell us somthing about your work with the ELO?

Hazel







Dr. Hazel Smith
Senior Research Fellow
School of Creative Communication
Deputy Director
University of Canberra Centre for Writing
http://www.ce.canberra.edu.au/writing
Editor of Inflect http://www.ce.canberra.edu.au/inflect
University of Canberra
ACT 2601
phone 6201 5940
More about my creative work at
www.australysis.com