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INTENTION
The first
German prize for digital literature was awarded
in 1996, and a call for intelligent and accurate
literary criticism was made by Softmoderne
Online in the spring of 1997. But we still lack
a thoughtful and thorough consideration of what
happens and what could happen in digital
literature. We need to go beyond fancy-sounding
statements and make time for a discussion that
takes its time. We are readers! We know that
there are bad texts out there and we think
digital literature isn't beyond good and evil.
Our mission is to carefully observe the field of
digital literature. Our means are reviews and
articles that don't shy away from long sentences
or long thoughts.
METHOD
dichtung
digital is designed to contribute to an
aesthetics of digital literature. Therefore,
reviews aim to be precise and thorough analyses.
They will listen to the intrinsic aesthetic
logic of their subject as well as establish and
use general criteria for the consideration and
evaluation of digital literature. The method of
criticism follows Johann Gottfried Herder's
notion of thinking with and in place
of the author. Thus there will also
occasionally be suggestions as to how the text
under discussion could have been better written
or why it perhaps shouldn't have been written at
all.
Cambridge,
MA, May 1999
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