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

在日益数字化的时代，文学和戏剧经典的改编会是什么样子？混合现实和虚拟现实、沉浸式和多媒体环境、电子游戏和社交媒体的创造性应用如何改写经典文本，使其具有煽动性和启发性，但也可能减少或限制？这个研究网络旨在了解近几十年来出现的数字技术是如何被使用的，或者在未来可能被使用，让21世纪的观众参与到经典文学和戏剧的体验中（同时也创造出自己的新艺术作品）。通过一系列的在线研讨会和最后的混合研讨会，网络成员将探讨一个核心研究问题：新的数字技术在艺术、教学和政治上为重新讲述旧故事带来了什么？小说家威廉•吉布森（William Gibson）在2005年为《连线》杂志（Wired）撰写的一篇文章中说，“混音是数字的本质。”将现有的艺术作品转化为新的东西是数字创造力的标志，正如我们在流行音乐世界中清楚看到的那样。随着数字技术的普及，文学和戏剧领域的创作实践也发生了重大变化，近年来，诞生于数字时代的文学和戏剧作品的数量和影响力都在不断增长。在学术界，一个关于电子文学和跨媒体叙事的广泛研究已经出现，尽管它通常侧重于新写作或流行文化与其互动领域之间的关系。对经典作品和数字改编的研究仍然不太常见，即使存在，也通常集中在单个作者或文本上。其结果是形成了一个丰富但有时支离破碎的研究领域。该网络将汇集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，并在此过程中建立一个跨越作者、时期和流派的跨学科和跨专业领域。通过数字化可访问的公共活动计划，网络成员将1)展示如何使用不同的数字技术，包括视频游戏和虚拟现实，社交媒体和跨媒体讲故事，以及混合现实体验来重新想象经典的原始材料；2)确定艺术、政治、声誉和财务因素，这些因素影响着经典文本的数字化再造的创作和委托；3)概述在课堂上教授文学、戏剧和识字时使用这些改编作品的好处和挑战。网络活动将邀请来自英语、戏剧、经典、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。通过跨学科和跨专业的对话，网络成员将从实践和理论的角度研究数字化改编，并确定是什么使这些作品在不同的背景下（教育、文化、学术、金融）取得成功。前五次会议（将在现场活动结束后以带字幕的录音形式提供）将探讨不同技术的应用及其吸引新受众的方式，而最后一次研讨会将介绍网络的研究成果，举行高调的全体会议，并与创意从业者和教育工作者举行圆桌会议。该网络最终将出版一本开放获取的《适应》特刊，这是适应研究协会的国际期刊（由开放网络出版），将数字混音作为一个集体和有影响力的工作体进行分析；两份面向公众的情况说明书，概述了从事数字改编工作的艺术家和教育工作者的最佳实践；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.