User:Andre Castro/2/thesis/outline

Thesis Outline

Subject of investigation

spam emails - unsolicited emails, that employ a narrative plot to lure its receiver into providing personal information, such as bank account number or passwords, or deposit money in the spammer's account.

Aim

The elevation of spam to a artistic practice in its own right.

Demonstrate that spam is undervalued literary creation, which deserves more attentive reading.

Argument

Arguments as to why it deserves to be considered to be revalued

Spam as (digital) folklore

Spam has cast a language of its own, with specific,unique and identifiable:

• vocabulary
• mode of address
• structure
• characters (One can compare spam to Comedia dell'arte where, as a result of characters being stereotypical and known to audiences, speech lines are not written, but improvised by the actors while on stage)

• identifiable genres and writing techniques

Transmedia narratives

• basing its narrative and real-world events and characters
• emails become one more media where these events are told, and new (fictious) characters are introduced into the narrative.
• (fictious) character don't remain within this fictious world created by spammers, they extrapolate it and begin interacting with the real events and characters.

Bibliography

Spam

• Burrell, Jena. 2012. 'Invisible Users: Youth in the Internet Cafés of Urban Ghana'. MIT Press. Cambridge / London.
• Heyd, Theresa. 2008. 'Email Hoaxes: Form, function, genre ecology'. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Amsterdam / Philadelphia.

Electronic Literature=

• Goldsmith, Kenneth. 2011. 'Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age'. Columbia University Press. New York.
• Murray, Jannet. 1998. 'Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace'. MIT Press. Cambridge / London.
• Propp, Vladímir. 1929. 'Morphology of the Folk Tale Society and Indian University'

Para-literary texts

• Fuller, Matthew. 2000. "ATM". ShaKe Editions. London.

Digital Folklore

• Lialina, Olia; Espenschied, Dragan. 2009. "Digital Folklore Reader". merz & solitude.

andre@tofu:~/Documents/PZI/thesis$ andre@tofu:~/Documents/PZI/thesis$ clear

andre@tofu:~/Documents/PZI/thesis$ emacs thesis_outline.txt andre@tofu:~/Documents/PZI/thesis$ cat thesis_outline.txt

Thesis Outline

Abstract

I will use my thesis to investigate the artistic value of spam emails. I will argue that spam messages have cast a language of their own, and as a result deserve to be inscribed within the larger field of Digital Folklore. In order to prove my point I will analyze the language, grammar, structure, and narratives of spam email messages.

Abstract in bullet points

Subject of investigation

spam emails - unsolicited emails, that employ a narrative plot to lure its receiver into providing personal information, such as bank account number or passwords, or deposit money in the spammer's account.

Aim (what)

• The elevation of spam to a artistic practice in its own right.
• Inscribe spam within the field of Digital Folklore

Argument (why)

• Spam has cast a language of its own, wich is both unique and identifiable character

Method (how)

• Analysis of its vocabulary, grammar, structure, and narratives.

Spam

• Burrell, Jena. 2012. 'Invisible Users: Youth in the Internet Cafés of Urban Ghana'. MIT Press. Cambridge / London.
• Heyd, Theresa. 2008. 'Email Hoaxes: Form, function, genre ecology'. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Amsterdam / Philadelphia.

Electronic Literature=

• Goldsmith, Kenneth. 2011. 'Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age'. Columbia University Press. New York.
• Murray, Jannet. 1998. 'Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace'. MIT Press. Cambridge / London.
• Propp, Vladímir. 1929. 'Morphology of the Folk Tale Society and Indian University'

Para-literary texts

• Fuller, Matthew. 2000. "ATM". ShaKe Editions. London.

Digital Folklore

• Lialina, Olia; Espenschied, Dragan. 2009. "Digital Folklore Reader". merz & solitude.

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Leftovers

about transmedia narratives

transmedia narratives, that not only remain on a fictious realm, manage extrapolate to real world.

Considering spam stories as transmedia narratives, which extrapolate the fictious realm and can both challange and change reality. As a spam narrative is often based on real events, which has been previously accounted by other media, the spam messag becomes one more medium where the real event is narrated. By introducing new characters and pieces of information to the narrative, and the fact that it arrives to us as an email, which we tend not to associated with fictional narrative.