This is a great essay! To the extent that definitions of e-lit are predicated on how tractable the term is over time, it would seem we're destined for largely unreliable, ahistorical accounts of what it is. Walker Rettberg shows that although we can certainly count occurrences of overlapping terms across decades, unless we understand the shifting semantics underlying those metrics, we really haven't made much progress (e.g., her observation that early uses of "electronic literature" often denoted research literature published in electronic form, rather than born-digital creative works).

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to the enduring popularity or influence of Flash-based e-lit within the community, even though it’s being rapidly superseded by other forms.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