Teaching electronic literature in India: a case study of using twine for a creative writing workshop

While examining electronic literature as post comparative media, Astrid Ensslin and Samya Brata Roy characterised electronic literature as a “pluralistic, fluid phenomenon that challenges the established norms and analytical frameworks of traditional literary practices”. (Ensslin & Brata Roy [2023]. Electronic literatures as post comparative media. Complit Journal of European Literature, Arts and Society, 1(5), 145–171) This perspective underscores the need to examine electronic literature within specific socio-cultural contexts. Therefore, this paper contextualises the Electronic literary praxis within a creative writing workshop conducted with postgraduate English language and literature students at the Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Gujarat, India; through which the students were introduced to the process of building a hypertext using Twine, a free and open-source tool, to construct interactive narratives, drawing on the learning experiences of the primary author of this manuscript. Following the instruction, students engaged in a creative writing assignment, developing their own hypertextual stories. The paper reviews student feedback received through feedback forms completed by all participants and interviews with those who created hypertexts after the workshop. It argues that electronic literature in pedagogy promotes innovative narrative exploration while developing creativity, critical thinking, reading, and writing skills in digital contexts. Concluding, it recommends a creative writing–based, practice-oriented framework for teaching electronic literature in the Indian academic context.