ISSN:
1572-8412
Keywords:
interactive fiction
;
literariness
;
canonization
;
ostranenie
;
gap
;
strangeness
;
Shklovskij
;
Portal
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Computer Science
,
Media Resources and Communication Sciences, Journalism
Notes:
Abstract The authors of interactive fiction are beginning to demonstrate a concern for the literariness of their product. Literariness, as defined by Shklovskij and the Russian Formalists, is the quality of “making strange” that which is linguistically familiar, a quality Shklovskij termed ostranenie. By applying the principle of ostranenie, as well as other well-known literary principles, to the most serious interactive fictions, we can determine if this new genre exhibits the features of literariness. A study of Mindwheel, Brimstone, Breakers, A Mind Forever Voyaging, Portal, and Trinity suggest that the literariness of interactive fiction comes out of its concern both for “making strange” what is familiar and for “making familiar” what is strange.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00118891
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