E-Lit: Historical Overview of IT in English Literature

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E-Lit Historical Overview of IT in English
Literature

• Stuart.lee_at_oucs.ox.ac.uk

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Initial points

• Course and assessment - LOG ON
• Web site (http//www.english.ox.ac.uk/ gt On-line
  course material gt E-Lit gtCourse site)
• Bulletin Board
• Using the room
• Final assessment - save in B drive
• Guest lectures, OUP visit

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Aim of course

• The impact of the new technologies on English
  literature and language
• Changes in the world of publishing
• The history of computer-based English literature
  projects
• Transferable skills

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Aim of Class

• Look at the main areas where IT has been used in
  English literary studies
• Hands-on analysis of a few selected packages
• Discussion of common themes gt esp. design and
  content

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IT and English Literature

• Analysis of resources (textual)
• Access to resources
• Bringing together material to further the study
  of the text, author, genre
• Promoting dialogue
• Didactic/instructional
• Creative writing

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Analysis of Resources

• Computers can handle large quantities of data
• In literature this usually relates to collections
  of texts or corpora
• Analysis (in theory) can provide a deeper
  understanding of the text
• Patterns, use of vocabulary (authorship studies),
  development of themes, creation of indices and
  concordances, etc.
• Concordance of the Vulgate in the Middle Ages
• Fr. Roberta Busas analysis of St Aquinass texts
  in 1946
• Covered in class 4

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Access to Resources

• Primary material - electronic versions of texts
  and mss - started with Project Gutenberg (early
  1971), the Oxford Text Archive (1976),
  Chadwyck-Healey began in early 1990s, finally
  e-books (class 6) first manuscripts were
  produced at Oxford and the BL
• Secondary (editions, journals, monographs, etc.)
  and reference material (dictionaries, companions,
  encyclopaedias)

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OED Case Study (p. 65)

• 2nd ed. Published on CD-ROM mid 1990s
• Allowed for non-standard searches of the
  dictionary
• Migrated to Web version end of 1990s
• Available under OxLIP

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Hypertext publications

• Allowed literary scholars to bring together
  material related to a specific text or author
• Mixed media was available (text, images, audio,
  and video) plus linking to stress intertextuality
• The Web uses the same metaphors
• Hypertext discussed more in Class 3

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Case study The Beowulf Workstation

• Written in HyperCard in 1991 by Prof. Patrick
  Conner (West Virgina University)
• Text of Beowulf plus tools to help students
  translate and study the work
• No longer runs but its design was highly
  influential

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Instructional/Didactic

• Rarely used as there as Literary studies tend to
  be more discursive, with more emphasis on
  research, analysis, argument
• Yet is applicable in some areas where self-paced
  learning and assessment is appropriate

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Case Study STELLA (p.66)

• Software for Teaching English Language and
  Literature and its Assessment (University of
  Glasgow)
• Series of self-paced modules with tests Scottish
  Literature, Older Scots, English Metre, English
  Grammar, Old English, Piers Plowman

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Hands-on Analysis

• Content - what is available?
• Functionality - what does the package allow you
  to do that is new?
• Appeal - how easy is it to use, and how
  aesthetically pleasing?
• Commonality - what are the common technical,
  design, and content features?

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Discussion

• What did they contain?
• Structural design - tree diagram
• Authority, Purpose, Content, Accuracy,
  Objectivity, Currency, Design
• Greethams model editions
• All author or context-oriented?

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Weeks activities

• Internet for English tutorial
• Look at web sites and post brief evaluation on
  the bulletin board (one or two paragraphs)
• Reading for Class 1 and Condron (pp. 15-18)