Reading and Teaching Gender Issues in Electronic Literature and New Media Art

This dissertation has as its object of research new feminist hypermedia and it is located in the fields of hypertext theory, gender studies, and semiotics. This work offers close-readings of three recent feminist hypertext fictions written in English language exploring the problematics of gender, sexuality and multiple identities: Dollspace (1997-2001) by Francesca da Rimini, Brandon (1998) by Shu Lea Cheang and Blueberries (2009) by Susan Gibb. The aim of the study is, in the first place, show how feminist hypertext fictions can be analysed: categorising the work, interpreting its nodes and lexias, emphasizing the cultural references it evokes and studying the readers’ reactions to the hypertext. And in the second place, promote the study of electronic literature as a useful tool for literature courses as well as to demonstrate the beneficial aspects of hypertexts to work with gender studies literature.