Digital Literature in France (conference presentation)

The presentation briefly retraces the history of electronic literature in France, emphasizing the various literary and aesthetic tendencies and the corresponding structures (groups, magazines, etc.). The focus then shifts to French electronic literature communities. The presentation notably provides an account of a study that Bouchardon did in 2004-2007 for the Centre Pompidou in Paris (study included in the book "Un laboratoire de littératures", http://editionsdelabibliotheque.bpi.fr/livre/?GCOI=84240100044550). He analyzed a "dispositif" (mailing list, website, meetings) called e-critures, dedicated to electronic literature, with the hypothesis of the co-construction of a "dispositif", a field and a community. The presentation concludes with the possible characteristics of electronic literature in France (which might not be specific to France), both from a literary and from a sociological point of view.