User:Ross G Sutherland

Hello
Hello and welcome to my User Page. It probably looks a bit shambolic at the moment. I have incredibly limited experience of the Wikipedia thus far, so apologies for any errors. I am new here.

In three weeks time I begin a postgraduate research paper on Computer Generated (Electronic) Literature at Liverpool John Moores University. Due to the somewhat intangible nature of the existing literature on this subject, I thought it made sense to ground my research in the belly of the beast, using Wikipedia as a catalyst for the generation of new studies and ideas. Because the Wiki is in a state of constant flux, this multi-authored approach seemed to be more in the spirit of Cyberliterature, and made more sense than the extrapolation of information to a neutral 'third space'. The hypertextual structure of the Wiki will be extremely beneficial to me in the early days of my research:


 * It allows my colleagues the opportunity to follow my research at every step
 * It will lead me to discovering new threads of existing Electronic Literature
 * It gives me opportunity to work alongside the Wikipedia community, hopefully creating a more insightful view of my subject matter.
 * It creates conflict and confusion: two things I feel are integral to the creation of Computer Generated Literature.

Thoughts on Research, so far
I am interested in the impact of New Media (particularly Cyberliterature) on our consciousness of language as a whole. New technologies equal new perceptions. Reality is a man-made process. Our images of the world and of ourselves are, in part, the models resulting from our perceptions of the technologies we generate as products. The discoveries that occur at these interfaces between the physical and the virtual worlds have a tremendous impact on how we shape our conceptions of the social, moral, and ethical realities of our personal and collective selves.

In a way, Cyberliterature gives us insight into these realities by providing a ‘mirror’ in which to reflect them. Some projects create more palatable results than others, but each of them can tell us something about the developing relationship between human and synthetic ontologies.

Once I have outlined my project, done my groundwork and had a few more ideas, I will move this across to a new dedicated page and start my research in earnest.

A few pages that I wish to expand:
 * hypertext fiction
 * electronic literature