Introduction
The seminar on “Books as Objects” made it clear that books are not losing their significance in the digital age, but rather undergoing a transformation. They remain historical, cultural, and symbolic objects, while digital media are simultaneously giving rise to new forms of knowledge transfer. This is precisely where my creative project comes in. It presents a double page consisting of a traditional text page and a meme collage. Both pages convey the same content, but use completely different media logics. The project thus reveals how forms of literature are changing, how digital expression complements traditional structures, and how both media forms coexist rather than exclude each other. My project argues that memes function as a new form of digital literature by translating the material, cultural, and symbolic dimensions of the book into a fragmented visual mode of meaning-making, thereby demonstrating how digital media reshape our understanding of textual objects without replacing the book.
The project demonstrates that literature is not disappearing in the digital age, but rather becoming more diverse. Memes function as digital literature that conveys complex ideas quickly, visually, and with cultural significance. The combination of the linear text page with the fragmented meme page makes it clear that books continue to be significant as material and symbolic objects, while digital media are giving rise to new forms of literature. This coexistence gives rise to an expanded form of meaning in which traditional book culture and digital forms of expression go hand in hand. The project thus illustrates that media change is not a loss, but an expansion of our literary possibilities.
The traditional text page: The book as a multi-layered object
The text page deliberately follows the conventions of a classic book page. It has a linear structure, is organized argumentatively, and focuses on linguistic coherence. In terms of content, it shows that books are more than mere carriers of text. Their significance arises from several levels: their materiality, their production, their social significance, and their effect on thought processes. The page illustrates that books are historically developed media whose structural characteristics, such as page design, binding, and text arrangement, determine how content is read and understood.
These observations can be directly linked to Pressman’s analysis. She describes how, in the 21st century, books function not only as reading devices, but also as cultural symbols that embody values such as knowledge, individuality, and privacy (Pressman, p. 2). In this sense, the text page not only serves to convey information, but also represents the cultural depth and emotional attachment that continue to characterize physical books. At the same time, the page refers to the fragility of media. While a physical book can be physically damaged, digital information is threatened with disappearing unnoticed. Pressman emphasizes that in the digital age, the book is not disappearing, but rather being “repurposed and reimagined” (Pressman, pp. 2-3), an idea that is reflected in the text page by emphasizing the cultural longevity of the book as an object.
The meme page: Digital literature as fragmented meaning production
The meme page replaces linear text with a collage that deliberately focuses on fragmentation, superimposition, and visual condensation. The memes take up all the content of the text page: materiality, historical dimension, emotional attachment, fragility, social significance, and translate it into a form that is typical of digital culture. Instead of linear argumentation, multiple points of meaning arise simultaneously, which in their entirety represent the same content framework.
The meme page thus serves as an example of what Rettberg describes as electronic literature. According to him, digital literature arises when literary activity is produced by a computer or network (Rettberg, p. 169). Memes fulfill precisely these requirements, as they are based on images, text fragments, cultural references, and social interactions. Rettberg emphasizes that digital literature is often characterized by visual elements, non-linearity, and collaborative meaning-making (pp. 168–172). These are characteristics that are central to memes. The meme collage in my project therefore shows how digital media structure complex content differently, not through linguistic depth, but through visual intensity and cultural condensation.
The spatial contrast: form as argument
An essential aspect of the project, which goes beyond a mere comparison of content, is the spatial and visual design of the double page. The left-hand side shows an orderly, legible text, while the right-hand side shows a multitude of memes that overlap and are arranged in clusters. This composition is itself a media-theoretical argument. It shows that media forms not only convey content, but also shape thought structures. While the left page represents a linear order of knowledge, the right page creates a visual knowledge framework based on simultaneity, humor, and association. Rettberg’s description of digital literature as interactive and visually structured (pp. 168–172) is directly reflected in this collage. At the same time, the left-hand page fulfills what Pressman calls cultural “nearness”, a closeness to the book as an object that conveys stability and identity (Pressman, pp. 1–3). The double page thus becomes a performative representation of media change, as it shows how book culture and digital culture coexist and shape each other.
Comparison of the two pages: Different ways of imparting knowledge
A comparison of the traditional text page with the meme page shows that both media forms generate knowledge, but in different ways. While the text page uses argumentation and linearity, the meme page works with visual condensation and cultural references. However, both forms require specific reading skills: the meme requires the ability to quickly recognize visual symbolism, while the text requires linguistic processing.
The project thus confirms a central finding of the seminar: media do not replace each other, but exist in coexistence. Pressman points out that digital culture does not destroy old media, but transforms and recontextualizes them (p. 3). Rettberg, in turn, shows that digital literature creates new possibilities for expression that expand traditional literature rather than replace it (pp. 169–172). My project takes up these insights and makes them visible: books and memes do not compete with each other, but complement each other as different but equally valid forms of knowledge production.
Conclusion
The project demonstrates that literature is not disappearing in the digital age, but rather becoming more diverse. Memes function as digital literary forms that convey complex ideas quickly, visually, and with cultural significance. The combination of the linear text page with the fragmented meme page illustrates that books remain significant as material and symbolic objects, while digital media give rise to new forms of literary expression. The two media forms do not compete with each other, but rather expand the area of literary possibilities.
Crucially, however, the project shows how memes translate central characteristics of the book, its materiality, cultural authority, and symbolic functions, into a new visual and network-based mode of meaning. This digital transformation does not negate the basic principles of the book, but rather translates them into a contemporary, image-oriented logic. The project thus directly confirms the thesis that digital media do not replace our understanding of textuality, but rather transform it. Media change therefore does not mean a loss, but rather an expansion of our literary forms of expression and knowledge, in which traditional book culture and digital literatures coexist productively.