This paper aims to explore the intersection of literature, technology, and media through a theoretical reflection on the concept of “augmented literature.” Within the progressive integration of narrative practices and immersive technologies, such as augmented reality and locative media, the traditional literary text expands, transcending its material and symbolic boundaries. Accordingly, this study focuses on the intersection of transmediality, transmateriality, and locative media, analyzing how these dynamics redefine the concepts of narrative, reception, and narrative space.

At the center of this analysis is the case study of the transmedial adaptation of Die Nächte der Tino von Baghdad, an experimental literary text by Else Lasker-Schüler from 1907, reimagined by the artistic duo ConiglioViola. Their project does not merely adapt the text for other media but employs technologies such as augmented reality and geolocation to create a layered narrative experience. Through a combination of physical and digital spaces, ConiglioViola’s project becomes an emblematic example of augmented literature, where the original text is fragmented and reconfigured into a multiplicity of forms and languages.

A crucial role is played by locative media, which integrate the literary narrative with physical territories and the reader's movement through space. Geolocation thus becomes a technique that enhances the text, transforming ordinary places into narrative settings and creating a tension between the real and the virtual.

In this perspective, the concept of transmediality becomes central: the narrative fragments and recomposes itself across different media platforms, enabling the reader/user to enrich the text with a network of media experiences that transcend the traditional boundaries of the literary text. As this process suggests, such fragmentation is not merely mediated but also material.

The second part of this paper will address the category of transmateriality, considering both the transition of the text into different material regimes (from the ephemeral to the tangible) and the active role of technologies in transforming literature. This transformation enhances the traditional capacities of literature, redefining it as a space for experimentation, dialogue, and the integration of diverse languages.

The narrative that colonizers are revered as deities by their colonized subjects due to their scientific advancements and military power was first introduced to Japan in the mid-19th century. Influential historical texts, such as Peter Parley’s Universal History and Jules Verne’s or Rider Haggard’s novels, played critical roles in constructing myths that justified and bolstered Japanese imperialism. After Japan invaded Dutch Indonesia in 1942, interest grew in the ancient Javanese legend of the rightful king. The Japanese forces appropriated this legend, establishing the myth that the peoples of Southeast Asia were eagerly awaiting Japanese soldiers as liberators from Western oppression. The propaganda film Momotaro: Sacred Sailors (1945) adeptly incorporates these legends, depicting Japanese soldiers as metaphorical knights on white horses, entrusted with the mission of delivering occupied peoples from their subjugation. In the film, these soldiers are portrayed as morally and historically justified in their actions, positioning them as heroic liberators. Conversely, Western colonists are depicted as “goblins,” ultimately vanquished by the Japanese soldiers, who parachute in to overpower them. This cinematic representation serves to invert the earlier deification of colonizers in Japanese mythology, reframing European colonialists--once revered as gods--as malevolent goblins. In this way, the film attempts to perpetuate the narrative of a Japanese “Deus Ex Machina” at a moment when, in reality, Japanese imperialism was on the brink of collapse. This presentation will analyse the techniques and motivations behind how this film medium effectively conveys such myths.

This project proposes the development of an interactive hypertext platform to explore the contrasting experiences of Erfahrung (cumulative life experience) and Erlebnis (immediate, emotional experience) in Western classical novels, with Don Quixote as the central text, as he moves between these two modes of experience. He begins deeply entrenched in Erlebnis, driven by grand illusions of chivalry and a distorted perception of reality. However, through failure, disillusionment, and reflection, he ultimately attains Erfahrung in his final moments. By engaging with Don Quixote’s evolving perspective, readers can reflect on the consequences of each approach to life, applying these insights to their own understanding of personal growth and decision-making.

To further illustrate this contrast, additional characters exemplifying Erfahrung and Erlebnis will be analyzed, providing a comparative framework for understanding how different approaches to life shape moral and psychological development. Typical fictional heroes such as Kitty from Anna Karenina and Daniel d’Arthez from Lost Illusions exemplify Erfahrung, as they gradually adapt to hardships and transform them into wisdom and self-sufficiency. They follow paths of patience, resilience, and moral growth, gradually making informed decisions. In contrast, characters like Anna Karenina and Lucien Chardon (Lost Illusions) are defined by Erlebnis. They live by extemporaneousness and react instinctively to opportunities or crises without considering broader consequences. Their impulsive choices and fleeting experiences lead to instability, self-destruction, or tragedy.

As readers follow each character’s story, they will encounter two distinct choices per key passage, each presenting a different perspective—one for Erfahrung and the other for Erlebnis. Visual markers such as color-coded headings, distinct borders, or numbering systems will guide the readers through related passages within a structured, non-linear format. By engaging actively with the text, readers can make choices and explore different narrative paths, transforming reading into a participatory experience. Ultimately, this project reimagines classical literature as an active, immersive engagement, demonstrating how interactive storytelling enhances literary analysis and deepens engagement with the text

The paper aims to investigate the role of AI in literary writing and to challenge the dichotomy between viewing it as a tool and as an author. While the lack of agency and consciousness makes it impossible to consider AI on the same level as a human writer – even when a system achieves high performance in writing – AI nonetheless exerts a transformative power on literature, preventing us from dismissing it as a mere tool. When used in the writing process, AI demonstrates its capacity to challenge our understanding of what constitutes a literary text, reshaping our perception of authorial intention and the creation of meaning, and prompting a reconsideration of the definition of creativity. This transformative power manifests in two key aspects that will be analyzed: the generation process and the AI gaze.

The use of AI in writing alters the generation process. Until now, regardless of the medium (manuscript, print, digital), a text has typically undergone various stages of human revision before reaching its final published form. The introduction of AI, however, disrupts this process by introducing a fundamentally different mode of human-machine interaction. This shift has formal implications and necessitates new approaches to the genetic study of AI-generated texts. The paper proposes and examines three key aspects to consider when analyzing AI-assisted writing: the specific phases of the writing process where AI is involved (e.g., research, text generation, or editing); the type of AI system used and its technical generation process; and the degree of automation and mode of interaction. Understanding these aspects is essential both for writers employing AI in their creative process and for scholars analyzing AI-generated literature.

The second transformative aspect is what can be defined as the "AI gaze," referring to AI’s distinctive way of representing the world. Notably, recent AI systems are capable of using language to describe concepts and facts without any prior semantic understanding. Beyond its philosophical and cognitive implications, this ability holds creative significance, offering a possible new perspective on the world. Scholars have identified several characteristics of the AI gaze, including an innocent eye, a different or deficient perception of historicity, the capacity to explore data unconscious, quintessence representation, and counterfactual imagination. These characteristics, along with AI textual generation techniques, will be analyzed through case studies such as 1 the Road by Ross Goodwin and Non siamo mai stati sulla terra by Rocco Tanica. Through this analysis, the paper seeks to stimulate debate on the status of AI-generated literature within the broader artistic landscape.

The career of British director Peter Greenaway, now more than four decades long, has been strongly animated by a profound intermedial research, from various movies on architecture and paintings to multimedia exhibitions till the recent design of an extremely creative subway station in Naples. His movie Prospero’s Books (1991) adapts Shakespeare’s The Tempest, giving to the object book a central role, especially as a magical tool and as a catalyst of a neo-baroque intermedial creation. Theatre, dance, opera, computer graphics and animation are continuously intermingled, and create a complex parallelism between page, screen and frame. The result is a strange masterpiece that can be considered the culminating point of Greenaway’s baroque and melodramatic poetics of the excess.