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CHARLOTTE’S WEB SITE: THE CONVERGENCE CULTURE OF CHILDREN’S PRINT AND DIGITAL LITERATURE By CATHLENA ANNA MARTIN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Cathlena Anna Martin 2 To my family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Above all, I thank my parents, who supported me throughout the entire process that led to this dissertation, including reading to me as a child, encouraging me in every academic and non-academic pursuit, and grounding me in the belief that I could do anything I set my mind to. Without them, I would not be Dr. Martin. And I am grateful to my sister, Tamara, and her husband, Phillip, for their letters, packages, shared books, and inspiration. I would not have pushed myself as hard without such an amazing big sister to compete with. Additionally, this project could not have been completed without the guidance and help of Dr. Kenneth Kidd. He provides the perfect blend of criticism and encouragement, revision and hope. Moreover, I want to thank my committee members—Dr. John Cech, Dr. Greg Ulmer, and Dr. Barbara Pace—for providing feedback and support throughout this process. I thank fellow kiddie litters, Julie Sinn Cassidy and Ramona Caponegro, for solidarity in our subject matter, and Rita Smith, for allowing me solace in the stacks of the Baldwin. And I thank two gaming ladies, Laurie Taylor and Lisa Dusenberry, for their passion and knowledge on all things digital. I thank the members of my dissertation seminar—Aaron Talbot, Joel Adams, and Mindy Cardozo—and editor friend Joi Tribble. Their deadlines, questions and critical eyes helped enhance drafts. And I appreciate my past English professors and teachers who all played a part—Dr. Julie Steward, Dr. Bryan Johnson, Dr. Rosemary Fisk, Dr. Charles Workman, Dr. Steven Eply, Dr. Nancy Witt, Mr. Jon Carter, Mrs. Vickie Margene, and the late Mrs. Jan Bolla. Each individual contribution aided my graduate school success. 4 I thank my ever present canine companion, Lit, who deserves an honorary doctorate. I especially thank my husband, Stephen Bennett, who reprised his role as my copy editor. His acute talent for words helped polish this document, and his helpful, loving presence made the last mile of this race easier. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 LOADING…AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONVERGENCE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN A DIGITAL AGE .......................................................................... 10 Children’s Literature and Cultural Studies ............................................................... 15 Comparative Media Studies .................................................................................... 19 Video Game Studies ............................................................................................... 23 Project Overview ..................................................................................................... 33 2 FROM PAGE TO CONSOLE: VIDEO GAME ADAPTATIONS OF “CLASSIC” CHILDREN’S TEXTS .............................................................................................. 38 Rethinking Adaptation ............................................................................................. 41 Alices ...................................................................................................................... 45 Webs ....................................................................................................................... 69 Present Day ............................................................................................................ 82 3 BOYS PLAY REAL WAR: VIDEO GAMES IN CHILDREN’S PRINT TEXTS .......... 89 Board Games in Children’s Texts ........................................................................... 93 Reality and War .................................................................................................... 101 Space and Power ................................................................................................. 113 4 PUZZLING GENDER: ADOLESCENT TECHNOLOGICAL FICTION FOR GIRLS ................................................................................................................... 122 Gaming Sidekicks ................................................................................................. 126 Instant Messaging and Blog Books ....................................................................... 136 Nancy Drew: Media Sleuth ................................................................................... 141 Cathy’s Book: Just a Book? .................................................................................. 150 5 INTEGRADED MEDIA: MINORITY FEMALES IN CHILDREN’S VIDEO GAMES 162 Rugrats: An Integrated Nursery ............................................................................ 167 Character Race in Video Games .......................................................................... 175 Dora: Exploring New Ground ................................................................................ 177 Lilo & Stitch: Alien and Other ................................................................................ 182 Digital Media to Print Texts ................................................................................... 185 6 6 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND MEDIA: A POST SCRIPT ............................... 191 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 197 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 217 7 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CHARLOTTE’S WEB SITE: THE CONVERGENCE CULTURE OF CHILDREN’S PRINT AND DIGITAL LITERATURE By Cathlena Anna Martin August 2010 Chair: Kenneth Kidd Major: English In analyzing the narrative connection and convergence between print literature and digital media under the specific genre of children’s print texts and video games, my study explores three spaces where media are converging and diverging, specifically focusing on “classic” print story adaptations, cultural assumptions transmitted across media, and textual and formal influences that produce transtexts. Using examples of transmedia story universes and technologically influenced texts, I engage narrative, gender, and race in relation to children’s playable narrative vis-à-vis video games, arguing for their impact and alteration of children’s print literature and vice versa. Chapter 1 provides an introductory overview of digital and print convergence within the bounds of children’s literature. Chapter 2 studies the traditional responses to video games in relationship to children’s print texts: particularly adaptation and fidelity. Chapter 3 examines the reverse by studying how print texts incorporate gaming scenarios. Chapter 4 expands this discussion to transtexts and other technologically- influenced young adult fiction that engage multi-platform media, which showcases not only problematic kinds of convergence (consumerism without awareness) but also 8 advantageous kinds of representational gender politics. Chapter 5 extends the gender discussion to include race and returns to a discussion of story adaptation across media, but emphasizes form over fidelity. Because the convergence of print and digital media is still relatively new in children’s literature, seeing both the re-inscription of normative culture and also the radical potential for future texts provides a more accurate depiction of the emergent forces in children’s literature that will be of interest to future writers, educators, publishers, and readers. 9 CHAPTER 1 LOADING…AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONVERGENCE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN A DIGITAL AGE In 1952, more than a decade and a half before the internet was brewing in the labs of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a little spider communicated through the simple lines of a web thread in E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. Two concise iconographic revisions of this tale motivate the title of this dissertation and afford preliminary examples of convergence between children’s print texts and digital media. The first image, created for the spring 2003 "It's her future" ad campaign by the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Ad Council, provides a visual example of intermediality whose goal is to foster more technologically literate girls. An African-American girl snuggles next to her teddy bear in the pink and white linens of her white iron bed. She is absorbed in a visually dominant, oversized book titled Charlotte’s Web Site. The title is, of course, not the original E.B. White title, but the cover has been recreated to match the layout of the source text and is illustrated in the style of Garth Williams. On the cover, Fern, Wilbur, and the other farm animals stare at Charlotte, who is displayed on a computer monitor. The Girl Scouts’ ad campaign asserts a revision of Charlotte’s Web, literally rewriting the print text to encourage girls’ interest in technology through a familiar source text. Similarly, Mike Peters, known for his