Scott Rettberg vant Hayles-prisen for boken "Electronic Literature"
The N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature for 2019 ble tildelt Scott Rettberg, professor i digital kultur ved UiB, for boken Electronic Literature.
Main content
Prisen deles ut årlig ved konferansen til Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) til "the best work of criticism of electronic literature of any length", og er finansiert av en generøs donasjon fra den anerkjente forskeren N. Katherine Hayles og andre givere.
I sin begrunnelse skriver juryen: “No other work addresses with such consistency the varied and extensive selection of born digital literary works over the past two decades.” De skriver videre: “Also, one finds here a substantive (and varied) context in critical theory and creative practices. It is the first monograph [we] know of that articulates electronic literature as both a scholarly field and a viable creative practice with much, much room for development.”
Uttalsen fra ELO roser også Rettbergs forskning på fagfeltet elektronisk litteratur, som er tett vevd inn i boken: "Not only has Rettberg been pivotal in the formation of this field, but after moving to Norway, he expanded the field through spearheading the ELMCIP directory, an extensive database of digital works, many of which appear in this book."
Rettberg kommerte prisen slik: "Jeg har stor respekt for N. Katherine Hayles. Hennes forskning har hatt stor innflytelse på min karierre. Det å vinne en pris som bærer hennes navn betyr mye for meg. Jeg er stolt av boken jeg skrev, og av elektronisk litteratur som fagfelt, og jeg håper at denne prisen hjelper med å få boken ut i verden, så den er til nytte for forskere og studenter."
Andre- og tredjeplassen deles i år av antologien Small Screen Fictions, som er samredigert av Astrid Ensslin, Pavel Frelik, og Lisa Swanstrom, og monografien The Digital Literary Sphere av Simone Murray.
I 2016 vant Rettberg sammen med medforfatterne Roderick Coover, Arthur Nishimoto, og Daria Tsoupikova ELOs pris for litterære verk: Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature, for Hearts and Minds: The Interrogations Project. Rettberg er dermed den første personen som mottar både den fremste prisen for forskning og for kreativt arbeid innen elektronisk litteratur.
Forleggeren beskriver boken Electronic Literature:
Electronic Literature considers new forms and genres of writing that exploit the capabilities of computers and networks – literature that would not be possible without the contemporary digital context.
In this book, Rettberg places the most significant genres of electronic literature in historical, technological, and cultural contexts. These include hypertext fiction, combinatory poetics, interactive fiction (and other game-based digital literary work), kinetic and interactive poetry, and networked writing based on our collective experience of the Internet. He argues that electronic literature demands to be read both through the lens of experimental literary practices dating back to the early twentieth century and through the specificities of the technology and software used to produce the work.
Considering electronic literature as a subject in totality, this book provides a vital introduction to a dynamic field that both reacts to avant-garde literary and art traditions and generates new forms of narrative and poetic work particular to the twenty-first century. It is essential reading for students and researchers in disciplines including literary studies, media and communications, art, and creative writing.
