Jesica Pressman and the Evolution of Digital Literature
In an era dominated by screens and instant data, the intersection of traditional reading and new media has become a critical field of study. Jesica Pressman has emerged as a leading voice in this discourse, examining how the act of reading and the physical nature of books evolve alongside digital technology.
Key Facts
- Author of Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age (2020).
- Author of Digital Modernism: Making it New in New Media (2014).
- Recipient of the 2016 N. Katherine Hayles Award for Literary Criticism of Electronic Literature.
- Specializes in born-digital literature, critical code studies, and the materiality of books.
- Co-editor of influential volumes on postprint humanities and book presence.
The Materiality of Reading: Bookishness
In her 2020 monograph, Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age, Pressman investigates why physical books remain vital in a digital world. Rather than viewing the book simply as a medium for text, she analyzes it as an object of attachment. She describes these connections as being sentimental, fetishistic, and radical.
Scholars have noted the depth of this analysis; Rebecca Brenner Graham describes the work as applying an analytical, scholarly, and theoretical lens to physical books, while Mike Chaser highlights how the text addresses the pervasive fear regarding the "end of books." The work has also reached international audiences, including reviews by Daniela Côrtes Maduro for Portuguese readers.
[ไม่มีภาพประกอบ]Tracing Digital Modernism
Pressman's earlier work, Digital Modernism: Making it New in New Media (2014), explores the genealogy of born-digital literature—works created specifically for digital environments. She traces the roots of these forms back to the experiments of literary modernism and proposes new ways to adapt close reading methods (the detailed analysis of a text) to electronic literature.
Collaborative Analysis and Award-Winning Research
In 2015, Pressman collaborated with Mark C. Marino and Jeremy Douglass on the Reading Project: A Collaborative Analysis of William Poundstone's Project for Tachistoscope (Bottomless Pit). This case study won the Electronic Literature Organization's "N. Katherine Hayles Award for Literary Criticism of Electronic Literature" in 2016.
The project is notable for its use of three distinct methodological approaches to interpret digital poetics:
- Critical code studies: The analysis of the underlying software code as a literary text.
- Close reading onscreen aesthetics: The study of how the visual presentation on a screen affects meaning.
- Data visualizations: The use of graphical representations of data to uncover patterns.
Contributions to Postprint Scholarship
Beyond her own monographs, Pressman has shaped the field through co-edited volumes. In 2013, she worked with N. Katherine Hayles on Comparative Textual Media: Transforming the Humanities in a Postprint Era, focusing on the transition to a world where print is no longer the primary medium. In 2018, she co-edited Book Presence in a Digital Age with Kiene Brillenburg Wurth and Kári Driscoll.
Her shorter works, such as "A [S]creed for Digital Fiction," serve as a manifesto for multilinearity—a narrative structure where a story can follow multiple paths—while providing a comprehensive summary of the history of hypertext.
Summary of Major Works
| Year | Title | Role | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Comparative Textual Media | Co-editor | Postprint humanities |
| 2014 | Digital Modernism | Author | Born-digital literature genealogy |
| 2015 | Reading Project (Bottomless Pit) | Co-author | Digital poetics and code studies |
| 2018 | Book Presence in a Digital Age | Co-editor | Materiality of books |
| 2020 | Bookishness | Author | Books as objects of attachment |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main argument of Bookishness?
The book argues that physical books continue to provide meaning in the digital age by serving as objects of sentimental, fetishistic, and radical attachment, rather than just tools for reading.
What is born-digital literature?
Born-digital literature refers to literary works that are created specifically for digital platforms and cannot exist in a traditional print format without losing their essential characteristics.
What are critical code studies?
Critical code studies is a methodological approach that treats the computer code of a digital work as a text to be analyzed, allowing researchers to understand how the software influences the literary experience.
What is multilinearity in digital fiction?
Multilinearity is a narrative technique where a story does not follow a single linear path, allowing for multiple trajectories or simultaneous plotlines, often facilitated by hypertext.
Which award did Pressman win for her collaborative work?
She co-won the 2016 N. Katherine Hayles Award for Literary Criticism of Electronic Literature for the analysis of William Poundstone's Project for Tachistoscope (Bottomless Pit).