"Even if important insights can be gained from the study of extraliterary phenomena with the instruments of literary theory, it does not follow that these phenomena are literature and should be judged with literary criteria" (11, Aarseth).
I think it is important to establish terminology to describe changes in the medium of a text. Aarseth seems to be getting caught up in the exciting capacity of new media like digital computing. This medium changes the form of a text dramatically. I agree that when looking at the form, digital text should be considered "ergodic" or "cybertext". I'm not so convinced that these texts are not literature or should not be at least "judged with literary criteria".
Some of the greatest insights into culture and politics have come out of literary theory. Even when the "literature" or "text" was not a narrative novel some of the greatest insights have come from literary theory. Literature comes with a lineage centuries back, to blatantly ignore this is juvenile and stupid. If anything, computer games are receding back into a form of literature that old and boring compared to some of the more "traditional (in form) literature being produced today.
For example, while playing Kings Quest, I felt like I was reading King Arthur. As exciting as it was to participate in the game, to be able to "traverse the text" (1, Aaseth) I still felt like I was being read a children's story- moral, giants et all. I am in no way convinced that the actual story was different from what has been being written for decades. To generalize, I would say the same is true of most video games. Though the medium has become more exciting, the people writing the stories for these games are the same people who are writing for Hollywood films. The industry of writng for entertainment hasen't thought critically of itself for a while now. I think what is more important than distinguishing the form of a text is to be able to critique a text out of our cultural lineage of literature. The discussion of form should come after this.
Comments (1)
I think everyone's grappling with what the "new" medium of video games means for storytelling whether in movies or books. I think Aaseth's contradictory musings are part of that grappling.
Personally, I am interested in seeing games emerge as a medium in which people's agency in narrative encourages them to engage positively in the "real" world rather than escape it. Somethling along the lines of AFMP (just kidding).
Posted by Andy Cox | November 18, 2007 8:45 PM
Posted on November 18, 2007 20:45