Mediations of Literary Reception and Theory/Critique in the Digital Space

Abstract

The presentation discusses intermediality from the aspect of media convergence of print literature and reviews with new modern digital platforms such as popular book sites (Goodreads, Anobbi, Libib and Library Thing), book blogs and reading/literature podcasts which affect and shape the mediations/negotiations of literary reception. Media intermediality forms creative spaces in which reader reviews of literature can in themselves develop new intermedial genres for instance blog fiction or digi-fiction.  Previously mainly driven and formed by the book reviews of major literary critics published in highbrow magazines and newspapers, the practice of choosing and evaluating a book has been overtaken by produsers of which a key element is communal evaluation in a heterarchy. As a result of intermediality, a heterarchy not only impacts negotiations of literary reception but also literature theory.  In their own receptions of literature, lay readers discuss principles which can lead to the emergence of new literary theory, for instance metamodernism, transrealism or even the reinterpretation of lesser movements such as fluxus. Intermediality therefore emphasises a push-pull relationship between traditional literature and critique as the primary point of reader interaction and new media. As communication technologies continue to develop, online reader critique also develops in which the original literature or critique becomes a hyper literary form of itself.   Thus, the question we address through the examination of these online interactivities is how this (new) media ecology shapes the consumption of literature, how it opens up the digital space for literary discussions and what kind of intermedial networks it creates.