Pre-web Digital Publishing and the Lore of Electronic Literature

The Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext (1994-1995) was a pre-web, serious hypertext magazine that faced a fast-evolving technological landscape and an emergent gift and open access economy. This study offers platform-specific analyses of all EQRH's cross-media materials, deploying a form of conceptually oral ethno-historiography to deepen our understanding of the North American publishing industry's history and contribute to the overdue preservation of early digital writing.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 75 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This Element delves into a pivotal era in the recent history of digital publishing through a case study of the pre-web, serious hypertext periodical, the Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext (1994-1995). In the early days of hypertext writing, standalone mainframe computers and specialized authoring software were the norm. However, with the advent of the Web as a mass distribution platform, EQRH found itself navigating a rapidly evolving technological landscape, coupled with the emergence of a gift and open access economy. Its non-linear writing experiments provide valuable insights into historical, medium-specific authoring practices. Despite its significance, EQRH has been relatively under-researched and faces the threat of obsolescence due to access constraints. To address this challenge, this study conducts platform-specific analyses of all the EQRH's cross-media materials, including works that have hitherto escaped scholarly attention. It employs a form of conceptually oral ethno-historiography: the lore of electronic literature. By undertaking this study, we gain a deeper understanding of the history of the North American publishing industry and make significant contributions to the overdue preservation of early digital writing.

Weight: 138g
Dimension: 128 x 176 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108828888
Edition number: New ed