Abstract
In a post-digital society, for Literary Studies it is necessary to examine digital literary writing processes in detail from both a literary-theoretical as well as a praxeological perspective. This will essential to adequately describe the transition from a literary production based on the categories, practices and myths of the Gutenberg Galaxy (for instance: 'the author as a genius', 'the privileged literary work') to different form of digital literary production (by authors who are surrounded by online sources, social media activities and AI tools). The interdisciplinary approach of Web Literary Studies and the focus on German-speaking literary discourses will help to answer four research questions:
1. How can Web Literary Studies adequately describe digital literary writing processes – in a media-historical distinction from analogue literary writing processes – in terms of terminology and concepts? (literary-theoretical dimension of terminology and concepts)
2. Which (also digital) methods and techniques should be used in the documentation of digital literary writing processes? (methodological and technical dimension)
3. How can the data obtained in the project on digital literary writing processes be archived in a sustainable way and made freely available for reading and academic re-use? (editorial and documentary dimension)
4. How can concrete digital literary writing processes, their progression, their techniques, their production of meaning be concretely examined and how can digital literary writing processes be appropriately analysed? (praxeological and literary-analytical dimension)
In the centre of the project, case studies on contemporary German authors from different aesthetic fields will provide the necessary data of digital literary writing processes that will be analysed. In this process, qualitative methods as author interviews and analyses of the written literary texts and its epitexts are applied. In addition, the project aims to interdisciplinary integrate (digital) methods from Writing Studies and other disciplines, like keystroke logging, screen capturing and videography to to be able to comprehensively document and analyse digital literary writing processes. If the project is successful, it will not only have produced concrete research results on various digital literary writing processes and made concrete research data available. It will also have contributed to expanding the methodological apparatus of Literary Studies and helped to develop standards of the analysis of digital literary writing processes
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