Preface:
Literature is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit”. This traditional definition discredits any merit from the emerging field of multimedia literature. There is a line between literature and media and according to the Oxford definition, there is no bridge. What, then, becomes of traditional literature that becomes media? Is all merit stripped away once the printed form is removed? Piper and Murray would argue that multimedia literature enhances the experience for the reader and literacy depends on experience. Alternatively, Birkerts argues that when literature is taken from its natural form, literacy ceases and multimedia is merely a game. In the distinctive case of Nancy Drew, multimedia has enhanced the literature experience for many and has added to the legacy of the girl detective. I believe in my paper that I moderate a conversation between the three authors (Piper, Murray, and Birkerts) and thoroughly use the text of Nancy Drew books and games to discuss what literary merit is and how it can transcend print. I would have liked to developed my sister’s view more in depth, but time did not permit. I am hoping that if I return to this for the final project that I can do a justice to the wonderful interview she gave me.
I pledge my word of honor that I have abided by the Washington College Honor Code while completing this assignment.
______Rachel A. West____________
Reading is an experience. Whether done in private or in a social setting, reading provides an experience that is unparalleled. Transported from their current surroundings, readers exist for a few moments as a bystander in another world, in a story. But what about those who have struggled with literacy? The experience that we associate with reading traditional print can certainly be more difficult to obtain and, as an upsetting result, not as profound. The traditional printed literature that still dominates our culture is not as universal, not as accessible, as we have been lead to believe. Multimedia literature bridges the gap for many who are caught between desiring an experience and not being able to achieve one. The experience, the ability for a reader to connect with a text through interaction, is crucial to creating a personal foundation of literacy. The complex elements of multimedia literature can simplify the reading process and enhance the experience for many readers.
My younger sister has Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition on the Autism Spectrum that limits the ability of a person to connect socially. Due to the impairment on her social interactions, the act of reading a book does not transport her as it would another reader. She struggled to engage with printed text and for years reading was at the very bottom of her list of “fun ideas”. That was the case until she discovered the Nancy Drew mystery series produced by Her Interactive. The series is comprised of thirty-six games which allow the once bystander reader to become Nancy Drew. My sister was immediately enraptured by this concept of becoming the main character in the story. The first time she played one of these games, she really experienced what it meant to read.
But, she was playing. There is no conceivable way could she be playing and reading simultaneously, right? On the contrary, playing and reading actually fit together. As Andrew Piper explained in his essay “By the Numbers” featured in his collection Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times, human beings are no strangers to playing with our literature. The invention of our alphabet was, in a sense, play. We play with our words and we play with our books. Play is a natural part of the learning process and so it must also be natural in the case of literature. While there are some who try adamantly to keep the two separate and in completely different corners of the world, overlap – like in the case of Nancy Drew – is bound to happen.
The benefit to multimedia literature, as Piper also explained, is that “… Digital texts are never just there. They are called forth through computation and interaction, whether by a human or a machine. This is what makes them dynamic, not static objects. It is this feature that marks the single strongest dividing line between the nature of books and that of their electronic counterparts.” (Piper, 132) All literature, not just multimedia literature, depends on interaction. However, a distinction in multimedia literature is that some interactions can alter the role of reader and author. The line between these once defined individuals is blurred beyond recognition. The relationship between the reader and the text exceeds a surface level of merely processing information and forms a deeper connection.
“I feel like I am Nancy Drew, like I solve the mysteries,” my sister said . To my recollection, this was never her reaction to reading the Nancy Drew books. Unlike the classic books which are written in third-person narration, the games immerse the reader and allow them the opportunity to be more than just a bystander. Alternatively, the Nancy Drew games are a first-person based game where the player must control Nancy’s movements, complete puzzles, interview suspects, and explore in order to check items off of a “To Do” list, make notes in Nancy’s diary, and ultimately solve the mystery. The reader must take control of the story and write most of the plot themselves. There are definitive moments when the story moves along at a predetermined pace such as when the reader’s input ceases and the story progresses like a video, but for the majority of the story the reader is making executive decisions to complete the story.
Janet Murray, who for a time developed software to be used when studying foreign languages, said that immersion is the key to literacy. Without total engagement and immersion, it is nearly impossible to learn a foreign language. For my sister, written English was a foreign language. No matter how hard she studied, there were times when she just couldn’t understand what she was reading. The Nancy Drew games have turned her into a reader, encouraged her to read the novels the games are based on, and overall have significantly boosted her literacy. After all, the computer does not strongly oppose everything print represents. The computer “ … is the child of print culture, a result of the five centuries of organized, collective inquiry and invention that the printing press made possible,” (Murray, 8) and no where is the relationship between parent print and child computer more evident than in the Nancy Drew franchise. “Cyberdrama” is a form of multimedia literature that merely forwards the reading experience and it does not render print obsolete. The ability of multimedia literature to engage readers on a new levels is what sets it apart from print. The effects of multimedia literature come together to create a reading experience like no other.
With multimedia literature gaining popularity, the fear of print becoming obsolete sounds the alarm for many scholars. For Sven Birkerts, print is comfort. He spent much of his turbulent adolescent years in solitude with his books. Print is similar to a security blanket and the thought that print might eventually be rendered passé causes him great concern. For Birkerts, the idea that literacy can be found in forms other than print is absurd. Print is the only natural form of literature and anything else, especially multimedia literature, is nonsensical. Print media is not wide, but incredibly deep, and the perceived loss of depth in the digital realm greatly distresses him. Birkerts is also highly concerned with the obscured line between the reader and the author in multimedia literature. Traditional print form is very clear in the role of each participant: the author wrote, the reader reads, and there is no room allowed for argument.
Birkerts statement that literature of value is only found in print form is enhanced by his argument that a major drawback of the digital realm is that it is exceedingly difficult to navigate. The digital world can function as a black hole and trap unsuspecting readers. “The point is that these technologies are not used in instrumentally isolated ways. Rather, they create a community of users and a complexly self-reinforcing culture of expectations. This culture, this environment — how well we know it — becomes ever more difficult to step away from; and it has various socially coercive implications.” (“The Room and the Elephant”, paragraph 26) This is evident in the community that has formed around Nancy Drew fanatics. Where there used to be book clubs, there are now “Game Boards” with FAQs, hints, and walkthroughs; there are videos on Youtube of people playing the games and addressing each other as members of “The Nancy Drew Clue Crew”. This sense of community is a deep allure for my sister. She is able to participate in something greater than herself and she has become a part of a group of literary scholars. My sister can get lost for hours in this world, but it is not as concerning as Birkerts would have us believe.
I do agree with Birkerts that multimedia literature can be overwhelming. The endless opportunities in a multimedia text can be daunting. For readers who prefer linear plots, there is a deep unsettlement that arises when the control of a story is passed from author to reader. There is comfort in print knowing that the author controls where the reader will end and how they will get there. Nevertheless, what Birkerts doesn’t account for in his tirade against multimedia literature are people who have struggled with literacy in print form for their entire lives. The chance for them to experience the same love of reading that he has found in the form of print is given to them in the form of multimedia. There is nothing unnatural about the way my sister reads when she plays. There is nothing impure about her favorite literary moments coming in the form of interactions with a screen. If anything, because of the game series, she has been more open to reading print and has had a stronger desire to do so than ever before. Murray argues that the “death” of the book, which Birkerts eulogizes, is not imminent and that the digital technologies he fears are simply the “children” of the print media. Piper argues that multimedia literature is simply an evolution – akin to our alphabet. Print was the new medium at one time in history and it both fascinated and terrified people who were used to the oral tradition of literature just like the technology of our time fascinates and terrifies people like Birkerts.
So, then, what is literature? According to Oxford Dictionary’s definition it is written work of lasting artistic merit. “Multimedia literature” is just a contradiction according to Oxford. Yet, in the case of the Nancy Drew mystery franchise multimedia literature not only exists and does not contradict itself, but has aided its literary merit. The first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock, was published in 1930 and the first Nancy Drew PC adventure series was released almost 70 years later in 1998. The franchise, composed of over 300 books and over 30 games has stood the test of time. Nancy Drew could embody the definition of literature: written works of lasting artistic merit. However, part of her longevity can be credited directly to the branch into multimedia literature, which is not solely written work.
Complete disregard for the multimedia genre and the dismissal of any merit found in forms of literature other than print not only discredits the literature, but the literacy of people who are the best readers when they play. Stripping any literary merit from the Nancy Drew franchise because it branched into the digital realm is absurd. These games are literature. They have a plot including an introduction, climax, and resolution (the basic pieces of a story) and some of them are even based directly off of books in the Nancy Drew series. “Lasting artistic merit” was a stipulation of literature in the previously quoted definition. The ability for literature to last depends on the reader. Without an active and engaged reader, literature (in print or multimedia form) does not move. Unfortunately, a reader who does not feel engaged with what they are reading will often struggle and the lasting merit of the print could then be called into question. If the requirement that literature must be “written” was removed from Oxford’s definition, then Nancy Drew would be the definition of literature due, in great part, to her branch into multimedia.
The validity of multimedia literature depends on the definition of literature and whether or not it can be recognized by critics as a genre. For Birkerts, the question of multimedia literature’s influence on literacy is never raised. There is no argument for literacy gained through multimedia since print is the only legitimate form of literature in his opinion. In spite of his argument against anything technological, Birkerts does raise questions about the experience of readers outside of the safety of print and reading is an experience. If there is an experience of reading that can be found in multimedia, then there should be no question as to its literary merit.
Bibliography
Augarde, A. J. The Oxford Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1981. Print.
Birkerts, Sven. “The Room and the Elephant.” Los Angeles Review of Books. N.p., 7 June 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Murray, Janet Horowitz. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: Free, 1997. Print.
Nancy Drew Sea of Darkness. Computer software. Vers. 6.0. Her Interactive, 2015. Web.
Piper, Andrew. Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2012. Print.
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