SKDK4008 Digital Literature, Art, and Aesthetics
- Number of credits10
- Teaching semester2026 Spring
- Language of instructionNorwegian/English
- CampusHamar
- Required prerequisite knowledge
Understanding Digital Media in the Age of AI, Codes, Networks, and New Communities
This course will offer an overview of the field of digital creative practice, literature, and art. It will also focus on certain key forms and genres of literature and art created for digital media specifically. The course will highlight both continuities and ruptures in cultural production from pre-digital media environments to digital, networked platforms and interfaces. Students will learn how to read, discuss, and analyze for example works of hypertext fiction, network art, VR and AR projects and installations, and narratives in games and other interactive environments. They will be familiarized with works that explore and interrogate the wider landscape of the digital society and economy, including the geographical, material, and infrastructural dimensions underpinning digital interfaces and design. This course will also demonstrate how many of the discussed works not only address forms arising from the specific platforms and technologies for which they were created, but also comment, critique, or reimagine the design, aesthetic features, and affordances of these environments. Digital literature and art are situated in the wider social and cultural context on the global digital economy, and its local manifestations.
Learning Outcome
After completing this course, the students will have a good general overview of key developments, forms, and genres of born-digital literature and art, and be able to describe and contextualize the aesthetic features of born-digital creative works and projects. They will also be familiar with how specific technologies and platforms inform the aesthetic aspects of the examined works, and to understand these as socially and historically situated.
Students
- have knowledge of the main forms and genres of born-digital literature and art, and their development in changing media environments.
- have a comprehensive overview of key historical precedents to works and genres examined in this course.
- have an advanced understanding of the role and significance of creative practice in the digital domain in social, cultural, and historical context.
Students
- are able to situate and analyse individual born-digital works within a wider field of social and cultural practice, and in an institutional context.
- are able to engage with various types of digital literature and art in their specific media environment (web, gaming platforms, portable devices, mixed media environments, etc.)
- are able to detect and describe the connections between born-digital creative works and the specific media technologies through which they are created, disseminated, and received.
- can read, view, and navigate born-digital works and texts that require approaches specific to non-print environments, and interactive engagement.
Students
- are able to understand and use terms and concepts specific to the field.
- can adapt their knowledge of digital culture and aesthetics to critically engage with digital interfaces and platforms, and aspects of their design, in everyday environments beyond cultural institutional contexts.
- can discuss various aspects of digital media and practices with both specialist and a general audience.
Course work will involve both seminar-type classes, during which the students will discuss the set texts and specific works with their lecturer, and classes focused on practical exploring of the digital creative projects discussed during the semester. The more practice-based classes may place either in classrooms (where students can use their personal laptops or similar devices), or in dedicated teaching rooms supplied with devices and spaces required for engaging with the works - learning how to read, view, and interactive with born-digital works is crucial for being able to communicate about their aspects and significance to others. Information regarding teaching, assignments, and course material will take place via the INN learning platform.
Course evaluation will take place according to established conventions and regulations at HINN. Time/date and method are decided in consultation with student representatives. The course coordinator is responsible for ensuring that the evaluation is carried out.
Attendance of minimum 75% and participation in class is mandatory. Students will have to complete two individual obligatory tasks:
- one assignment which describes and reflects on the traversal (read-through or play-through) of a born-digital work, and
- one focusing on the features and affordances of a specific genre of creative digital practice (e.g. hypertext fiction, network narrative, kinetic poetry, or similar). The latter may be submitted as a written text, video, or other file of a creative piece made by the student, including a reflective element.
The language of the obligatory assignments is either English or one of the two written forms of Norwegian.
The formal assessment for this course will be an online individual written home exam of 48 hours. Performance is assessed using a grading scale from A-F, where E is the lowest passing grade. The language of the exam is either English or one of the two written forms of Norwegian.
Permitted examination support material
- Syllabus literature
- All printed and written resources
- Generated text and content can be used, but must be clearly marked, referenced, and academically justified. Guidelines for citing generated material, and acknowledging its use, will be made available to the students.
| Form of assessment | Grading scale | Grouping | Duration of assessment | Support materials | Proportion | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home exam | ECTS - A-F | Individual | 48 Hour(s) | 100 |