=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1914/NHT17-3
|storemode=property
|title=Digital Adaptations: Types, Meanings, and Implications for Literary Education
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1914/NHT17-3.pdf
|volume=Vol-1914
|authors=Alexandra Milyakina
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/ht/Milyakina17
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==Digital Adaptations: Types, Meanings, and Implications for Literary Education==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1914/NHT17-3.pdf
Digital Adaptations: Types, Meanings, and Implications for
Literary Education
Alexandra Milyakina
University of Tartu
Tartu, Estonia
milyakin@ut.ee
ABSTRACT
Digital adaptations of literary works possess an ambiguous status in Digital adaptation can be seen as part of the universal cultural
education. Even though they have been in use several decades, their process. In the tradition of the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school, self-
impact on learning is not sufficiently studied. Apart from lacking description is considered a fundamental principle of culture also
technological confidence, educators are skeptical about viewing known as cultural autocommunication – “a process of
digital texts as relevant to literary discourse. In their turn, interpretation, mediation, deformation, elimination” of primary and
developers are not always interested in fitting the school needs and secondary texts [5].
tend to market their products as innovations. The study aims to
provide a semiotic framework for regarding digital adaptations in a The mnemonic and creative functions of cultural
wider context of cultural autocommunication and placing them in autocommunication are not always recognized by the system of
the system of literary education. Existing examples of digital literary education. Since the “translation from one system of text to
adaptations are collected, classified and analyzed. another always includes a certain element of untranslatability” [6],
the result may seem distant from the original text. By acquiring a
semiotic perspective, it is possible to extend the literary pedagogy
Keywords beyond its current limits and develop a framework for the analysis
Digital adaptation, digital books, literary education, translation, and implementation of digital adaptations. This involves not merely
cultural autocommunication a transition from printed to digital texts, but a transformation of the
entire learning experience, i.e. a reconsideration of the nature of
1. INTRODUCTION text, the nature of reading and the nature of new media.
Due to its blurred borders, the research field is characterized by a
terminological incoherence. Dozens of notions are employed both 2. METHODOLOGY
in academic conceptualization and marketing of the literature- The lack of the established terminology complicates the
related objects. Digital, or electronic literature is the most identification of digital adaptations. To create the current selection
commonly used umbrella term for different types of objects: digital (Table 1), two methods were used. Some of the digital adaptations
books, interactive fiction, transmedia storytelling, etc. Ergodic were found in iTunes’ catalog under the sections Books, Education,
literature, a notion developed by Espen Aarseth [1], extends this Entertainment. The others were revealed through the direct search
range by including video games or even ancient wall inscriptions on Google using keywords such as “interactive books”, “digital
that present religious texts non-linearly. books”, “digital literature”, “digital adaptations”.
The acknowledgement of literary discourse as an integral part of The study focuses on the products that include the full-length text
the overall media landscape challenges the conventional or, at least, the full story. In order to be placed on the list, an
understanding of the literariness [2]. For instance, it is not clear adaptation needs to fit the following requirements: to be based on
whether a novel-based video game could be considered as previously existent literary work; to present the whole story in a full
literature. Semiotics allows disregarding any differences between or abridged version; to be released in last ten years; to challenge the
formats in order to concentrate on the processes. Translation, in a traditional practices of reading and learning; to be suitable for
wider semiotic sense, includes not only interlinguistic translation but literary education in middle or high school; to have an English-
also intralinguistic and intersemiotic translations [3]. Digital language version.
adaptation exemplifies the latter type, while being associated with
the movement from “the literary to its representation” [4]. At the next stage, the adaptations were divided into three large
groups based on Bolter and Grusin’s remediation theory.
According to the scholars, the rivalry between media may be
described as duplication, enhancement, refashioning, or absorption
[7]. At the one extreme, the older medium is duplicated without
apparent irony or critique (those examples were excluded from the
selection). Adaptations of the second type tend to emphasize a
difference rather than erase it: a digital version is marketed as an
innovation even though it uses the same logics. The third option is
to refashion the older medium, while still marking its presence in
the newer one. Finally, the newer medium can absorb the older
medium entirely, so that the discontinuities between these two are
NHT’17, Prague, Czech Republic, July 2017 minimized.
Copyright held by the author(s).
Name Developer Type Subtype Targeting
Alice for the iPad Atomic Antelope Entertainment
iDickens: Ghost Stories Museum of London Entertainment
iLovecraft Collection iClassics Productions, S.L. Entertainment
iPoe iClassics Productions, S.L. Entertainment
Illustrated
Sherlock Holmes for the iPad Gutenbergz, Inc storybooks Entertainment
S. Holmes Byook Entertainment
The Raven (HD) vNovel Interactive Entertainment
The Great Gatsby interactive book Underpage Entertainment
A Clockwork Orange iPad App Random House Entertainment
Jack Kerouac's On the Road Penguin Group USA Education
James Joyce – The Dead University College Dublin Education
Joyce’s Ulysses: A Guide Naxos Digital Services Ltd. Education
Poems by Heart Penguin Group USA Education
Multimedia
Enhancement
Shakespeare Shakespeare.com collections Education
Starting Shakespeare Deeper Richer Education
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Missing Inc Studios Entertainment
The Poetry Hour Education
Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation
Tolstoy. Live Pages Articul Media Education
Ulysses Genius Education
Interactive
Infinite Ulysses Amanda Visconti comments Education
Actively Learn Actively Learn Education
Babeleo Babeleo Books Education
BookBites BookBites Education
Curriculet Curriculet Reading
Education
platforms
LitCharts LitCharts LLC Education
MyON MyON Education
Subtext Renaissance Learning Education
Canterbury Tales Weekly Reader Education
Folger Luminary Shakespeare Luminary Digital Media LLC Education
Gamebooks: Read and Learn English Oxford University Press Education
Mark Twain Weekly Reader Education
MIT Global Shakespeare Project MIT Refashioning Transmedia Education
O Brave New World RETZ Education
Of Mice and Men Study App Mammoth Graphics Ltd Education
Poe Web Site Weekly Reader Education
Shakespeare at Play Tim Chisholm Education
Shakespeare in Bits Mindconnex Learning Ltd. Education
Shakespeare’s Sonnets Touchpress Inc Education
The Shakespearience Sourcebooks Education
The Waste Land Touchpress Limited Education
Explore Shakespeare Cambridge University Press Education
WorldPlay Shakespeare The New Book Press Education
SwipeSpeare Golgotha Press, Inc Education
The Homer Multitext Harvard University Multitext
Education
editions
Walden: A Fluid Text Edition Digital Thoreau Education
Moby Dick, Great Expectations Penguin, Zappar AR Entertainment
Much Ado About Nothing Ophelia Project, Weekly Reader Entertainment
Twitterature Penguin Entertainment
Social media
Author Bot (Alice in Wonderland) Fastbot and bots Entertainment
Versu Linden Lab Entertainment
80 Days Inkle Entertainment
Frankenstein Inkle Absorption Entertainment
Interactive
Sherlock: Interactive Adventure HAAB fiction Entertainment
To Be or Not to Be Tin Man Games Entertainment
39 Steps The Story Mechanics Entertainment
Frankenstein HD Anuman Entertainment
Video games
The Great Gatsby: Classic Adventures Full Hullabu, Inc Entertainment
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments Frogwares Entertainment
Table 1. Typology of digital adaptations.
Simpler digital adaptations make the majority of the selection. Of
all products, 27 may be described as slightly enhanced e-books, in
3. FINDINGS contrast to only 4 literary video games. Almost all adaptations may
The idea of consistency between printed media and digital be referred to as edutainment products, with each adaptation
adaptations is reluctantly acknowledged by some developers and standing closer either to the education or entertainment pole.
educators. At the same time, it allows not only revealing certain However, the borderline is not clear. Even though products in
heredity, but also discovering global trends, instead of thinking in iTunes are targeted as either educational or entertaining, this is not
terms of specific media formats. necessarily related to their content. In most cases, their dominant
Developers tend to overemphasize the novelty of their products and function could also be derived from the description of the product
adhere to rhetoric rather than to the objective description. In order or the profile of its developer (for instance, universities are more
to reveal the real nature of the object, a researcher has to filter out likely to deal with educational projects).
loud claims about „interactiveness“ or „innovation“ and focus on the
structure of the product, its relation to more traditional media and 3.1 Entertainment
its contribution to current practices or reading. The entertaining function is dominant in 23 products in the
The final selection includes 58 digital adaptations which are divided selection. Interestingly, those are both the simplest adaptations
into three groups. Enhanced books (27 items) include illustrated (illustrated storybooks) and the most complex ones (social media
storybooks, multimedia collections, and reading platforms. retellings and bots, interactive fiction, video games). In both cases,
Refashioning (19 items) is exemplified by transmedia environments, the original texts are chosen for their potential visual appeal or the
multitext editions and AR-products. Absorption (12 items) is capability to win the attention of the audience.
presented in social media retellings, interactive fiction and video The successful digitalization of literature is often predetermined by
games. While the first type is the closest to the medium of the the immanent characteristics of the original text. To a large extent,
book, the third type is the most distant from it. the same features attract the authors of cinematic adaptations.
Firstly, successful texts are those that provoke suspense, curiosity, 4. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
or surprise. For these reasons, “thrillers, detectives, and spy novels For sure, there cannot be a universal technological solution to the
are always high on best-seller lists”, since they “are not read for the problems of literary education. The possibilities offered by each
information they contain, but for the pleasure they provide” [8]. product can be creatively adopted and integrated by teachers in
Unsurprisingly, classic detectives and mystery stories have a strong various situations. However, there are some characteristics that
position: digital adaptations are inspired by A. C. Doyle (5 items), may be regarded as inherent to different types of adaptations.
E. A. Poe (3), Mary Shelley (3), C. Dickens (2), H. P. Lovecraft
(1). Secondly, literary texts are chosen for their potential in terms Enhanced versions provide more opportunities to literary education,
of audiovisuality. For instance, the users of S. Holmes app are but may contain distractive features. The most effective ones seem
invited to “be startled as the victim’s screams resonate”, “shudder to be those that contain collections of literary-related materials or
as the blood spreads out on the pages”, and “shiver as the rain falls allow students to interact with peers and teachers. In the latter case,
into the palm of the hand”. Extremely popular app Alice for the the digital book may become a core element in a “flipped
iPad exploits the similar technique: “Throw tarts at the Queen of classroom”.
Hearts – they bounce off her! Witness the Cheshire Cat disappear
Refashioning shifts the reading patterns, causing that the story is
and help the Caterpillar smoke his hookah pipe”.
not necessarily perceived linearly and solely from words. The
As may be seen, entertaining products are mostly based on the texts borders between formats are blurred: a literary experience is no
of the certain genre which are not typically used in classroom longer limited to reading, but implies an interaction with digital
settings. This makes difficult to define whether the unpopularity of environments. These products reconsider the limits of literature,
such products among educators results from their digital form or undermine the linearity and the authority of literary texts, and,
simply the content. subsequently, are not easily adopted by conservative teachers.
Finally, absorption often implies reconstruction of the whole
3.2 Education storyworld using unconventional means (such as visual art or
More than a half of all products (35) may be considered as mostly artificial intelligence) and may be extremely costly. In most cases,
educational. Some adaptations are affiliated with universities and these products are positioned as games rather than books. Users
possess an explicit educational function: Walden Project by the acquire control over development of the plot while acting within
State University of New York at Geneseo; James Joyce – The the immersive environments. Implementation of such products calls
Dead by the University College Dublin; The Homer Multitext by for a new multidisciplinary pedagogy that will reconcile literary
Harvard University; Of Mice and Men Study App by Oxford education with the needs of contemporary media communication.
University.
Within the educational domain, reasons for digitalization can also 5. CONCLUSION
be manifold. First, digital products aim to facilitate the The current research can help educators to find consistency
comprehension of old texts. Thus, 14 products based on between literary works and their digital adaptations, while
Shakespeare’s works offer translations into modern English, videos appreciating advantages offered by different formats. Developers,
of word-for-word staging, thorough annotations, profiles of in their turn, may use it as a hint on how to find a balance between
characters. The study guide for John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men entertainment and education. For instance, some educational
contains profiles of characters and historical locations, while projects may benefit from more educational features, while
Tolstoy. Live Pages maps the complex interrelations of real and distinctly entertaining formats – such as video games – could be
historical events via interactive infographics. The second adapted for educational environment. Judging by the popularity of
explanation is related to the complex structure or genre of literary commercial digital adaptations, it is clear that the literary
works. The Homer Multitext project reflects the heterogeneous experience could be highly demandable. The real challenge is to
structure of Iliad and Odyssey, while a digital edition of Thoreau’s make popular the works that do not fall into specific genres and are
Walden explores the stages of development through a series of not so entertaining on their own.
drafts. Many digital products deal with 20th-century texts that are
Potential educational applications of digital adaptations are much
not easily comprehended without a context. A Clockwork Orange
wider than listed above, even though they are yet to be realized.
iPad App supplements Anthony Burgess’ novel with archive video
Apart from improving already existent practices on the level of
and audio; mobile version of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road includes
comprehension, new technological means allow performing
interactive map of the story, archive photos, texts, and videos; T. S.
activities that were hardly feasible with printed books. For instance,
Elliot’s The Waste Land is enhanced with multimodal comments
in some digital environments, it is possible to discuss literary texts
and scans of the original manuscript; applications based on James
with other readers, do exercises and even contribute to the
Joyce’s works contain elaborated annotations and multimedia.
construction of the storyworld by submitting new works of art.
Digital environments are more flexible than paper-based editions,
Now these products are not widely used at schools, that is why the
which makes them suitable for presenting the heterogeneity of
thorough examination of different functions is still needed.
modern and postmodern texts.
Elaboration of the current research can take different directions.
Educational features can usually be demonstrated in more or less
Firstly, the theoretical findings could be supported by practice in
complex products, including interactive reading platforms and
real-life literary classrooms. At the same time, the ideas may be
transmedia. They can facilitate comprehension of the old or obscure
tested in collaborative work with the developers of digital books.
texts and explain the complex structure of literary works. However,
Secondly, the research may embrace a wider range of objects,
there are no educational products under the third type – the
including not only full-text adaptations, but also compact retellings,
absorbed text seems to be standing too far from its newer version.
comic strips, book trailers, and other media forms.
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