Staggered transmissions

Abstract

The final part of the recent anthology Serialization in Popular Culture (2014) is called ‘Digital serialization’ and is devoted to ‘the influence of digital technologies on serial form’. The chapters throughout the anthology focus on modern serial phenomena such as TV series and computer games, but apart from a chapter on serial fiction in the 19th century, literature is conspicuously absent. However, the digital revolution has also left its mark on literature and given rise to new publishing strategies, including a resurgence of different forms of serialization. Some of the most notable examples of digital serial fiction are published via Twitter, and through analyses of recent Twitter stories by Jennifer Egan and David Mitchell, the article discusses how the micro-serialization of Twitter fiction both differs from and draws on the pre-digital tradition of serial fiction. In order to address these differences and similarities, the analyses focus on two interrelated aspects of serialization, temporality and interaction. Furthermore, they discuss the promotional dimension of Twitter fiction that arises as the financial dictates of legacy publishing intersect with fiction distributed via digital social media.