Divergent Streams

The last chapter of the textbook explored locative narratives, interactive installations, virtual and augmented reality, and what is next for electronic literature. Locative narratives stood out to me; I liked how locative narrative works are rooted in a specific geographical place, and the images/audio/user exploration of that place brings it to life. The aspect of physically interacting with a space, even if it's through a mobile screen, immerses readers into a place's story. I had a hard time finding and downloading Bubble, so I looked briefly into Mark Marino's The L.A. Flood Project, as I felt the themes were similar. The L.A. Flood Project is a multi-POV locative narrative (and netprov!) based on a hypothetical flood and how the city/people of L.A. are impacted. I felt that this was another great example of how the use of Google Maps in digital lit pieces adds a deeper layer to the stories and the reader experience.

I really enjoyed Far Away from Far Away - I'd argue that it was my favorite piece of digital lit we've explored in this class so far. I found it impactful that the story itself focused on Fogo Island and used the deeper exploration of Zita Cobb's family to show the island's social and systemic problems, and how rural places can profoundly impact residents, their opportunities, and their life stories. I liked how the story was narrated - it felt like I was listening to an audio book while tapping through images and short videos, which further immersed me as the reader into the place. I also thought the mixture of textual elements, close up images, and videos that you pressed down on to "reveal" another video beneath were extremely interesting and made the piece all the more engaging. Far Away from Far Away was created for a mobile device, and I think that the act of touching and moving around the images of Fogo Island created a more intimate experience that readers wouldn't have gotten on a computer where the touchscreen aspects were absent. This is why I'd argue that stories told on a mobile touchscreen device can sometimes create more meaningful experiences for readers.