Cybertext Poetics

by Markku Eskelinen

Equally interested in what is and what could be, Cybertext Poetics combines ludology and cybertext theory to solve persistent problems and introduce paradigm changes in the fields of literary theory, narratology, game studies, and digital media. The book first integrates theories of print and digital literature within a more comprehensive theory capable of coming to terms with the ever-widening media varieties of literary expression, and then expands narratology far beyond its current confines resulting in multiple new possibilities for both interactive and non-interactive narratives. By focusing on a cultural mode of expression that is formally, cognitively, affectively, socially, aesthetically, ethically and rhetorically different from narratives and stories, Cybertext Poetics constructs a ludological basis for comparative game studies, shows the importance of game studies to the understanding of digital media, and argues for a plurality of transmedial ecologies.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

472 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2012

Reviews

[Mark Poulsen]

In cybertext theory we essentially transition from a focus on what a medium is and what it consists of, to a focus on what a medium does and how it functions in a cybernetic feedback loop involving a text and a reader/player/user. From here we can then venture forward into, what I experience as, completely novel (borderline alien actually) interpretations of, and definitions for, literature, and invigorating debates about how we should categorize and study any text based on how it functions cybertextually - that is by honing in on the possible amount of media positions for any text as opposed to using a standard, conventional and limited scope of thinking only relevant for static non-ergodic texts.
To give an example: cybertext theory can explain the functional structure of both 1) a standard paperback book where the reader simply turns the page and reads, and 2) a text adventure on the computer where the reader/player is involved in a much less trivial reading process that can be described in words such as navigation, exploration, negotiation, and ultimately progression.

Cybertext theory is very well introduced in another book of the same name by Espen Aarseth (which is necessary to read and understand before attempting this one), but Markku Eskelinen provides a worthy successor for anyone interested in pursuing this theory, expanding it and assimilating it with standard and conventional theories from within disciplines such as narratology and ludology. This book is not an attempt to revolutionize the study of literature by providing a completely different theory to an already novel concept. Instead, Eskelinen continues the line of thought proposed in Cybertext through a 20 chapters long, carefully speculative and academically critical discussion in order to reinforce cybertext theory within the broader academic landscape of critical new media theory.

The scope is grand in that Eskelinen presents sooo many different theories from various disciplines in order to evaluate them and assimilate them with cybertext theory. For me this provided a unique chance to read up on a lot of different theories I have never encountered before, and Eskelinen made it possible to grasp this knowledge even as a newcomer by continuously presenting and framing the theories with proper definitions and categorizations. Overall, I find cybertext theory very exciting because it provides an opportunity to think about configurations of reading *any* book in a much more detailed light. It is hard to say how this will have practical value (for me) in design or criticism going forward, but I find it important nonetheless to have read this book and to be able to reference it in theoretical discussions and speculations. Not only have I learned a lot about the concept of cybertext, but I have also acquainted myself with essential theories concerning narratives, textuality, ludology and play.

[Aileen Tierney]

The academic beef in this is kinda crazy