Functions of semiotic interface of a digital literary work

Abstract

The paper analyses the concept of semiotic interface through the analysis of some emblematic digital literary works. The semiotic interface is revealed as place for transaction between the technical device and author’s and reader’s mind representation of it. One will show that semiotic interface is a border that makes a continuous passage between the context and the work at screen (the observable transient). One will also show that interfaces can be put together in two classes : the “closed” interface class in which an interface is a gestalt and the “open” interface class in which interface and content overlap. After this, one analyses the concept of interface inside the procedural model. First, principle results of this model are reminded, notably the main concept of “profondeur de dispositif” (system depth). The paper proposes to define the concept of internal interface as the demonstration of the system depth of the co-authors. One shows than that works in the 80’s and 90’s have used the same strategy to manage reading. This strategy is analysed and named “déroulement spiral du Lecteur Modèle” (spiral unwinding of the Model Reader). Finally, some classical tropes in digital literature are made contact with the concept of internal interface