mainframe

Since the rise of the mainframe computer, literary authors and critics alike have expressed anxiety about the computer’s ability to write narrative prose and poetry as well humans, or better. This lecture situates the contemporary digital literary practices of reading, writing, rewriting, and performing computer-generated texts within a broader social and historical context, dating to long before the advent of the computer. Christopher Strachey's 1952 Love Letter generator and Theo Lutz's The Castle generator are discussed in depth.

Visiting Artist Talk presented by CE3C Lab at Alberta College of Art and Design, 7 February 2013.

JR Carpenter has been using the internet as a medium for the creation and dissemination of experimental texts since 1993. In this lecture she will explore much earlier works of Electronic Literature dating back to the 1950s, setting a critical and historical context for the vibrant and experimental field that we find today. She skilfully excavates layers of computer/ communication/network history to offer insight into contemporary practices. Through commentary, analysis, historical images, and examples new and old of computer-generated texts and other non-traditional forms of writing, speaking, and interacting, this talk takes a practice-led approach to navigating the ever shifting creative, critical, and political terrain of this fast-growing form of digital-expression.