As media change, so do the ways in which we read.
"We shouldn’t confuse ‘reading’ with codex books,"
said N. Katherine Hayles, literature professor at the
and editor of "Electronic
Literature: New Horizons for the Literary" (
of
recent interview. "We
need a broader definition of the function of reading
and the sort of literacy necessary for reading."
Enter Inanimate Alice, a sophisticated but
user-friendly digital story that
incorporates text,
dynamic sound and visuals, music, and interactivity.
Not quite a game, not quite a novel,
is poised
to shift the boundaries between these forms.
"For me
carve out a space in
our rather noisy media world for a kind of online
reading," said co-creator Kate Pullinger from her home
in
text, sound and image, but
in some ways it bears quite a close relation to
reading a book. I’m really interested in creating a
story where people will want to do the equivalent of
turning the page."
Pullinger is a novelist, screen writer, radio script
writer and faculty member of the Creative Writing and
New Media Department at De Montfort University in
Her collaborator Chris Joseph is a
digital artist, writer and composer who co-created the
digital novel "The Breathing Wall" with Pullinger and
Stefan Schemat.
The story, now in its third of ten episodes, opens
with the precocious 8-year-old
living with her
parents in a remote part of
where her father is
"looking for oil." The viewer never sees the girl but
rather watches the story through her eyes as the
mystery slowly develops. Electronic music by Joseph
accompanies the piece and helps to shape the mood,
which alternates between frenetic and tranquil.
In order to move the story forward the user must solve
puzzles and interact with the objects in
world, such as the digital game device she plays with.
The piece is simple enough to be manipulated by a
child but is intended for all ages. Audio and visual
clues unfold over the course of all ten episodes to
tell the larger story of a woman who grows up to
become a successful computer game designer. From its
beginning in
the story moves to a snow-covered
villa in the Italian Alps and a tense scene in an
apartment in
But it is more than the story’s content that has a
multicultural dimension.
featured at the
conference for the European Year of Intercultural
Dialogue in
in December of 2007, and
has been screened at digital art and film festivals
around the world. This summer the piece will be
showcased at the 2008 Biennale in
Currently underway is an increased push of
educational potential. Dr. Jess Laccetti has created an education pack
to accompany the piece. Geared toward undergraduate study, the guide has
nonetheless prompted primary and secondary school teachers to adapt the
material and bring it into their classrooms. Teachers in 24 countries
have downloaded the education pack from the
website (www.inanimatealice.com).
A primary school teacher in
introduced the
piece to her class and got an enthusiastic response
from her grade six students: "…of their own
volition, many kids experienced some kind of artistic
response to the story. Many of the girls in the class
were making their own pictures based on the flowers
taken by
Lovely pastel
drawings!"
The story’s interactivity will indeed prove to be an
important component of changing educational needs,
said Peter Brantley, director of the Digital Library
Federation, which is based in
"It’s my
sense that a paradigm that supports these facets of
interactivity and sharing will become an increasingly
important component of pedagogy in the future.
Inanimate
edge of these
developments."
release at the end of
May, will allow for even more interactivity by
employing software that allows readers to create their
own digital pieces. Users will be able to upload
images, text, music and other sound to create an
interactive story similar to
"As our societies develop and adopt new
technologically aided forms of expression, it is
inevitable and natural that our expectations for how
we consume information and entertainment change,"
Brantley said. "But rather than a replacement, I hope
this is an enlargement. There is value in existing
immersive narrative forms, just as there is merit in
‘rapid reading’ of fragmented texts. Schools have a
responsibility to help students learn how to enjoy and
benefit from both forms."
—
Katie Haegele
www.thelalatheory.com