Remixing the Classics: Digital Adaptation and the Literary and Dramatic Canon

在一个日益数字化的时代，文学和戏剧经典的改编是什么样子的？混合的虚拟现实、身临其境的多媒体环境、视频游戏和社交媒体的创造性应用，如何以具有挑衅性和启发性的方式重写经典文本，但可能也具有简约性或限制性？这个研究网络试图了解最近几十年出现的数字技术是如何被使用或未来可能被使用的，以吸引21世纪的观众体验古典文学和戏剧(同时也创造出新的艺术作品本身)。通过一系列在线研讨会和最终的混合研讨会，电视网成员将调查一个核心的研究问题：新的数字技术在艺术上、教学上和政治上给重述旧故事带来了什么？小说家威廉·吉布森在2005年为《连线》撰写的一篇文章中认为，这种混合就是数字的本质。将现有的艺术作品转化为新的东西是数字创意的一个标志，正如我们在流行音乐世界中清楚地看到的那样。随着数字技术的普及，文学和戏剧领域也同样经历了创作实践的重大转变，近年来出生的数字文学和戏剧作品的数量和影响力都在增长。在学术界，现在已经出现了大量关于电子文学和跨媒体讲故事的研究，尽管这些研究往往侧重于新的写作或流行文化与其互动狂潮之间的关系。对经典作品和数字改编的研究仍然不太常见，如果它们确实存在，它们通常集中在单一的作者或文本上。其结果是形成了一个丰富但有时支离破碎的研究领域。这个网络将把对经典文学和戏剧的数字改编感兴趣的学术、创意和教育从业者聚集在一起，从而建立一个跨越作者、时代和流派的跨学科和跨专业的领域。通过一项以数字方式获取公共活动的计划，该网络的成员将1)展示不同的数字技术，包括视频游戏和虚拟现实、社交媒体和跨媒体讲故事以及混合现实体验如何被用来重新想象经典素材；2)确定影响经典文本数字翻拍创作和委托的艺术、政治、声誉和财务因素；3)概述在课堂上教授文学、戏剧和扫盲时使用这些改编的好处和挑战。网络活动将有来自英语、戏剧、古典文学、创意艺术、教育、出版、图书馆、戏剧和文化节目等领域的学术和行业演讲者参加。通过跨学科和跨专业的对话，网络成员将从实践和理论两个角度调查数字改编，并确定这些作品在不同背景下(教育、文化、学术、金融)取得成功的原因。前五次会议(将在现场活动后以字幕录音形式提供)将探讨不同技术的承受能力及其接触新受众的方式，而最后的研讨会将包括就网络的发现进行工作介绍、一次备受瞩目的全体会议和与创意从业者和教育工作者举行的圆桌会议。该网络最终将出版一期开放获取的适应特刊--适应研究协会国际期刊(由OUP出版)，分析数字混合作为一个集体和有影响力的工作机构的情况；两份面向公众的情况介绍，概述从事数字适应工作的艺术家和教育工作者的最佳做法；第三份情况说明书概述了在线研究交流的最佳实践。

What does the adaptation of literary and dramatic classics look like in an increasingly digital age? How might mixed and virtual realities, immersive and multimedia environments, videogames and creative applications of social media rewrite canonical texts in ways that are provocative and illuminating, but potentially also reductive or limiting? This research network seeks to understand how digital technologies that have emerged in recent decades are being used, or in the future might be used, to engage twenty-first-century audiences in the experience of classic literature and drama (while also creating new works of art in their own right). Through a series of online seminars and a final, hybrid workshop, network members will investigate a central research question: what do new digital technologies bring--artistically, pedagogically, politically--to the re-telling of old stories?In a 2005 essay for Wired, the novelist William Gibson argued that 'The remix is the very nature of the digital.' Taking existing works of art and turning them into something new is a hallmark of digital creativity, as we have clearly seen in the world of popular music. The fields of literature and drama have likewise experienced major shifts in creative practice as digital technologies have become widespread, with born-digital literary and theatrical works growing in number and influence in recent years. Within academia, a wide body of research into electronic literature and transmedia storytelling has now emerged, though it often focuses on new writing or the relationship between popular culture and its interactive fandoms. Studies of classic works and digital adaptation remain less common, and where they do exist they typically focus on a single author or text. The result has been a rich but at times fragmented field of study.This network will bring together academic, creative and educational practitioners interested in digital adaptations of classic literature and drama, and in doing so establish an interdisciplinary and cross-professional field that cuts across authors, periods and genres. Through a programme of digitally accessible, public events, members of the network will 1) demonstrate how different digital technologies including videogames and VR, social media and transmedia storytelling, and mixed reality experiences have been used to reimagine classical source material; 2) identify the artistic, political, reputational and financial factors that shape the creation and commissioning of digital reworkings of canonical texts; and 3) outline the benefits and challenges of using these adaptations when teaching literature, drama and literacy in the classroom. Network events will feature academic and industry speakers from a range of fields, including English, drama, classics, creative arts, education, publishing, libraries, theatre and cultural programming. Through interdisciplinary and cross-professional dialogue, members of the network will investigate digital adaptations from both practical and theoretical perspectives and identify what makes these works successful in different contexts (educational, cultural, academic, financial). The first five meetings (which will be available as captioned recordings following the live event) will explore the affordances of different technologies and the way they reach new audiences, while the final workshop will feature a work-in-progress presentation on the network's findings, a high profile plenary and roundtables with creative practitioners and educators.The network will culminate in the publication of an open-access special issue of Adaptation, the international journal of the Association of Adaptation Studies (published by OUP), analysing digital remixes as a collective and impactful body of work; two public-facing fact sheets outlining best practice for artists and educators working on digital adaptations; and a third fact sheet outlining best practice for online research exchange.