Multimodal Literature in the Age of Covid-19

Multimodal literary works typically feature an array of verbal and non-verbal elements that operate collaboratively and, in addition to the materiality of the print book medium, create unique narrative experiences. The recent developments in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic have significantly impacted the availability of multimodal works and their access by readers and scholars. While institutions have responded to the changing environment with a surge of digital online material, experiencing multimodal literary works in digital format, when available, can compromise several facets of the reading experience. The complex physical format as well as the (occasionally) limited print run of such works makes libraries and other institutions reluctant to scan and disseminate them for public access.This article examines the contemporary challenges that multimodal print-based works are currently facing in relation to their distinctive composition and print run, suggesting that digital and audio formats can be partially effective when considered at the production stage of these literary works (rather than at earlier stages during the creative process). Moreover, the prominence of physicality in the narrative experience of multimodal literary works leads to a reconsideration of broader readerly experiences in the age of Covid-19 developments

Seasoning the Novel: Mark Z. Danielewski's The Familiar

The present article examines Mark Z. Danielewski’s book series The Familiar (2015-) by drawing upon the affordances of TV series and the practices of multimodal literature that the author has adopted in the creation of his novels. The scale of the project and the breadth of experimentation with verbal and non-verbal elements on the surface of the pages leads to a reconsideration of literary production not only in terms of the final outcome, but also in terms of the process employed. The launching of Danielewski’s ambitious 27-volume enterprise coincides with a moment in TV production that features a turn towards fewer episodes per season, signaling an alteration in TV practices which, together with other factors such as the audience engagement pursued and the literacy skills that the terrain of the novels requires, have led The Familiar to a pause

Kiene Brillenburg Wurth, Kári Driscoll, Jessica Pressman, eds. Book Presence in a Digital Age

Kiene Brillenburg Wurth, Kári Driscoll, Jessica Pressman, eds. Book Presence in a Digital Age Bloomsbury, 2018. Pp. 280. ISBN: 9781501321184 Thomas Mantzaris In the midst of changing literary landscapes, Book Presence in a Digital Age brings together scholars, authors, and artists who shed light on, and contribute “to a comparative literature hovering between art, media, and literary criticism” (2). Editors Kiene Brillenburg Wurth, Kári Driscoll, and Jessica Pressman have structured the volum..

Julian Murphet and Mark Steven, eds. Styles of Extinction: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

Julian Murphet and Mark Steven, eds. Styles of Extinction: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road London and New York: Continuum, 2012. Pp 163. ISBN: 9781441185051 Thomas Mantzaris Since its publication in 2006, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road has received critical acclaim, exemplified by the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007. In the present collection of essays, the editors Julian Murphet and Mark Steven bring together a diverse spectrum of pathways that critically explore the post-apocalyptic environment ..

King, Daniel Robert, Cormac McCarthy’s Literary Evolution: Editors, Agents, and the Crafting of a Prolific American Author

King, Daniel Robert, Cormac McCarthy’s Literary Evolution: Editors, Agents, and the Crafting of a Prolific American Author. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2016. Pp. 232. ISBN: 9781621902478 Thomas Mantzaris Cormac McCarthy’s literary achievements have granted him a position among the greatest living American authors of our times. Marked by a distinctive style and double-edged realities, his literary works have constituted seminal points in the development of American literary..

Visual Literature in the 21st Century: An Interview with Anna Gerber

This interview addresses the innovative work of the London-based publishing house Visual Editions since its creation in 2010. One of its founding members, Anna Gerber, provides valuable insights into the shaping of the experimental projects they publish, as well as the diversity of endeavors Visual Editions is involved in. From experimentation with the visuality and the form of the print book medium to VE's collaboration with Google's Creative Lab and the production of mobile narratives, Anna Gerber shares her views into the emerging opportunities for literary texts across media

Jesús Blanco Hidalga, Jonathan Franzen and the Romance of Community: Narratives of Salvation

Jesús Blanco Hidalga, Jonathan Franzen and the Romance of Community: Narratives of Salvation Bloomsbury, 2017. Pp. 251. ISBN: 9781501319839 Thomas Mantzaris Jesús Blanco Hidalga contributes to the critical scholarship on Jonathan Franzen’s work by proposing the concepts of salvation and redemption. Examining Franzen’s fiction with this theoretical lens, Blanco Hidalga suggests a metanarrative quality that relates the characters in the novels to the author himself. By integrating “usually se..