Liselotte de Beer
Doctoral research fellow, University of Stavanger
I am a PhD Candidate at the University of Stavanger, based in the Department of Cultural Studies and Languages. My research interests focus on film, literature, posthumanism, and storytelling. My current research is on digital narratives and authorship in the digital space. I have an interdisciplinary background in the arts, media, education, and law. I hold a BA Honours in Drama and Film Studies from the University of Pretoria and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Unisa. I completed a Master’s in Literacy Studies at the University of Stavanger. My interest in legal studies led me to complete a Bachelor of Laws at Unisa. I was the Head of the Filmmaking Department at an arts college in South Africa before pursuing my PhD in Norway. Over the course of my career, I have worked as writer, video editor, producer, and production manager. Each of these roles has shaped my ongoing engagement with storytelling across different media.
Tell us about your project!
The research investigates how AI-human collaborative writing in digital narratives challenges traditional concepts of authorship, agency, and creativity, through a posthuman theoretical lens and with the help of Actor-Network Theory (ANT). It investigates how platforms like Twine and AI Dungeon reshape the roles of reader and author, creating the emergence of the ‘Posthuman Reader’. Drawing on scholars like Hayles, the study considers technogenesis, the coevolution of humans and technology, and its implications for literary creation. Through a practice-based approach, the influence of technology on authorial control, interactivity, and narrative structure will be examined. ANT will map the network of human and non-human actants involved in the creative process, highlighting how agency is distributed. By framing AI as an active collaborator rather than a passive tool, the study offers new insight into authorship and digital literature and contributes to broader discourse in electronic literature, digital humanities, creative writing, and game design.
“ Through a practice-based approach, the influence of technology on authorial control, interactivity, and narrative structure will be examined”
—Liselotte de Beer on her research project “Digital Narratives in the Age of AI: Reconfiguring the Posthuman Author/Player/Reader”