Arabic digital literature: reality, challenges, future

Abstract

Digital literature did not emerge until the artform engaged with the media during the last half of the twentieth century. One can say that digital literature emerged before the modern computer, yet it did so through other media like radio, television, and cinema. The contemporary conception of digital literature emerged when Tibor Papp presented his first poetic work ‘The Computer’s Richest Hours’ on ten screens in 1985. This poem is considered the first digitally animated work of this type, with the author interlacing sound, image, movement, and interactivity. In the United States, Michael Joyce produced the first such digital work in narrative terms in his 1987 poem, ‘afternoon, a story,’ using the Storyspace computer program. Its first appearance in the Arab world was Jordanian Mohamad Sanajleh’s 2001 novel, Shadows of the One (Dhil?l al-W?hid), which was soon followed by numerous other digital works from authors from various nations. Digital literature has greatly invigorated culture in the West since the beginning of the twenty-first century and one can say the same of the Arab world too, though the gap between the two cultures remains vast in terms of innovation, theorization, and criticism. This study aims to shed light on the contemporary state of Arab digital literature in terms of creativity and critique, theory and practice. It then turns to the challenges it faces, before examining its prospects in the immediate years ahead.