Towards a Theory of e-Liberature

Łukasz Matuszyk, Poland, ID CLEaR2016-356;      The quick development of e-liberature in recent years necessitates a new theoretical discourse which would clarify and categorize this genre as well as indicate the directions in which it is prone to develop. My presentation will offer the first step towards such a discourse by analyzing the distinctive features of the innovative e-liberary works and attempting a succinct, general discussion of those characteristics. The main part of the presentation will be devoted to putting forward essential general remarks about e-liberature. Basing on several distinctive e-liberary works as well as Zenon Fajfer's concept of liberature, the presentation will delineate the category of e-liberature and its multiple sub-categories, distinguishing them from similar genres, such as hypertextual literature and video games. This general view of e-liberature as a specific, separate genre will subsequently lead to a discussion of the most essential and universal features of e-liberary works. Such a manner of presentation is aimed to facilitate further research into the genre of electronic liberature by clarifying the very concept and dividing the genre into several branches of study. Basing mainly on an analysis of the most innovative e-liberary works and their distinctive characteristics identified earlier, the final part of the presentation will discuss the possibilities of further development of e-liberature.

Key words: E-liberature, literary theory, hypertext