The Differences Slavery Made: A Close Analysis of Two American Communities
Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace (New York: Free Press, 1997).

SYNOPSIS:

Murray's book explores how narrative and narrative forms have changed in the electronic medium. She examines various electronic narratives, from games to simulations and other forms of cybernarrative. Murray emphasizes the importance of four characteristics of electronic narratives--spatial, participatory, procedural, and encyclopedic.

EXCERPT:

"Like every human medium of communication, digital media have been developed to perform tasks that were too difficult to do without them. Hypertext and simulations, the two most promising formats for digital narrative, were both invented after World War II as a way of mastering the complexity of an expanding knowledge base. . . . The earliest vision of hypertext reflects the classic American quest--a charting of the wilderness, an imposition of order over chaos, and the mastery of vast resources for concrete, practical purposes." (90-91)


Citation: Key = H062
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