Penn State Deluge - Vol. 2 No. 1 - Spring 2004

Four novels from 1995 to 2002, written partly or entirely as e-mail messages among fictional characters, provide snapshots from the swiftly changing landscape of the internet and its cultural meanings. E-mail narratives belong to some degree within the broader tradition of eighteenth-century epistolary fiction, but their significance lies more in how they chronicle moments along the trajectory of e-mail's use in today's society.

The novels examined here address: the growing acceptance of e-mail as a means of social interaction beyond its initial purposes in business and academia; the fast adoption of computers by younger generations as well as the digital divide that separates those raised online from those who must choose to learn it; the way in which some correspondents internalize the clipped and often ironic tone of e-mail messages to replicate and critique the hyperactive multitasking that pervades their lives; and the potentially frightening power of computer users who would exploit the internet with questionable motives.

These four novels—published in traditional paper form—capture cultural moments of an ephemeral medium that remains in flux. They are snapshots from the electronic ether, sent from a certain time, place, and set of conditions which may already be passing away. Thus, while the texts' other themes may be more universal, the nature of e-mail and its relationship to the postmodern world of communication almost makes them period pieces before their time.

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[ Contents | Abstract | Intro | I | II | III | IV | V | VI ]
[ Notes | Works Cited | Appendix ]

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