Emmett Williams wrote of concrete poetry, '...It was born of the times, as a way of knowing and saying something about the world now, with the techniques and insights of now.’ (Emmett 1967, vi) The same is true of narratives in the digital realm. However, not content with mere manipulation of the linguistic and graphic qualities of words, in digital media time itself becomes a malleable object, with animation and interaction as actual rather than implied properties. Reader interaction too becomes a more literal aspect of works in new media; it would seem that the Barthesian ‘writerly reader’ has found a new home.
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Emmett Williams wrote of concrete poetry, '...It was born of the times, as a way of knowing and saying something about the world now, with the techniques and insights of now.’ (Emmett 1967, vi) The same is true of narratives in the digital realm. However, not content with mere manipulation of the linguistic and graphic qualities of words, in digital media time itself becomes a malleable object, with animation and interaction as actual rather than implied properties. Reader interaction too becomes a more literal aspect of works in new media; it would seem that the Barthesian ‘writerly reader’ has found a new home.
