Critical Analysis of Electronic Literature This essay understands the development and current state of electronic literature and to summarize the rapidly evolving field of electronic literature we must carefully examine its genres and genesis which may be traced back to Michael Joyce's 1989 work, Afternoon: A Story. Literature may be defined simply as writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, such as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. If we consider electronic literature in its form, it can be described as literary works shaped or created using a computer as an electronic medium in such a way that they cannot be experienced in any meaningful way without the intercession of an electronic device; as a field, it is developing through online journals, such as the Iowa Review web. Electronic literature, otherwise known as digital literature, "is a literary genre consisting of literary works that originate in digital environments and require digital computations to read." Unlike most e-books, electronic literature is created explicitly for use via a digital environment and therefore cannot be printed as key elements of the text require calculations: for example there may be links, generative aspects, multimedia content and animations or reader communication in addition to verbal text. Electronic literature can also take the form of digitally mediated performance writing. Katherine Hayles discusses the topic in her online article Electronic Literature: What It Is. He is of the opinion that "electronic literature, generally taken to exclude printed literature that has been digitized, is conversely 'born digital,' ... in the middle of paper ... similar to that of New York City." Central Park and included photographs and audio narration. Blast Theory's Uncle Roy All around You combined a game-like quest for Uncle Roy, delivered via PDA, with accomplices investigating a postcard hidden in a specific location. Meanwhile, online observers could follow participants and strive to assist or overshadow them, thus collaborating virtual reality with concrete movements through urban spaces. These notes are not intended as a criticism of the ELO's approach; rather, it is simply surveillance carried out by a scholar who has long examined and appreciated electronic literature and its maturity and organization. The truth, however, is that what these works will be called by future generations of readers, scholars, and artists, and how they will be distorted, viewed, judged, and understood is really anyone's presumption...