Designing on the Edge: Digital Paratext and the New Reading
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Abstract
A book’s paratext consists of those things that surround and support the content: the book cover, dedication, typography, book reviews, shelf placement, etc. Book scholar Girard Genette points out that these ‘marginal’ elements are actually central to a book’s reception and interpretation. Indeed, the loss of this paratext as books become digital has caused a lot of anxiety. This talk encourages us to craft a new digital paratext that makes true on the promise of the binary revolution. Innovative story-telling contexts like the New York Times’ /Snowfall/ and /Hollow: An interactive Documentary/ provide promising examples of the way forward.
Talk can be seen here starting at 25:06
