I'm excited to get to learn the versions of literature E-lit will bring to life that incorporate a.i., as experimental designs, video games and websites in general.

I agree and feel that our understanding of what E-lit is can and will change throughout our lives, merging and changing with the different types of media's that show up, video games with story progression could even be considered E-lit.

Taking into account this definition, E-lit is best experienced through electronic devices, which if I were to guess means the creative aspects in literature involves a few sensory experiences that are not as easily available consuming a physical book.

Interesting that this does not say, for example: "Social online spaces used for collaborative reading/writing." Collaborative writing does not have to be electronic, but the electronic does facilitate kinds of collaborative writing not possible otherwise.

Art in the medium of written words, through the medium of computers.

(my working definition until I know better)

The idea of there being a confrontation of technology and literature to create something new feels like a medium that is full of dissonance and an almost kinetic quality. When thought of in that way, it truly begins to feel different from e-books and other converted print works.

As a fan of epistolary novels, I really look forward to seeing how these little personal tidbits can come together to form a complete narrative.

From all of the examples given so far it seems like you need to be a master of quite a few different trades to be able to produce e-lit. There's the prose, the graphics, the ability to code in some way. It seems like e-lit may be a team sport.

...said every "nerd" ever about every niche interest that has every existed.

I wonder if it's anything like Oregon Trail. Did anyone else play that game growing up?

Less constraining! More Compelling! I'm curious to see exactly what that looks and feels like as "literature."

So...if I'm understanding this...they are saying that it is the electronic device that needs to add a new level or dimension to consumption of the literature in order for it to be e-lit. An e-book..is just a book on a kindle. But a device must play a part in enhancing the story in order for it to be e-lit.

Interesting that while most of these examples are generic types (e.g., interactive fiction), the list includes one proprietary authoring tool (Adobe Flash) and conspicuously leaves out others (Hypercard, Storyspace). I guess this just speaks to the enduring popularity or influence of Flash-based e-lit within the community, even though it’s being rapidly superseded by other forms.

The list also feels dated. Is that just a reflection of how mutable and experimental electronic literature is? What about e-lit released as an iOS app, for instance (something like Tender Claws’ Pry, which uses a gestural vocabulary that “meaningfully relates to the reading process” http://bit.ly/1D4ydDF )? Or e-lit authored using the Arduino platform or other microcontrollers? Are Jie Qi’s electronic pop-up books a form of e-lit? http://highlowtech.org/?p=5

This seems a key point--creation, not just dissemination.

This seems fairly vague. What kind of performances? What new ways?

This seems a key difference between the definitions. The MLA discussion takes into account social context and differences between US and European definitions. In a way, I like it much more, because it also connects this definition to the larger discourses about "what makes something literary"--and how that is influenced by forces outside the academy, not just within it.