"A Scrapbook of You + Me": Intermediality and Bookish Nostalgia in J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst's S.

This article reads J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst's S. (2013) as a reflection of the changing status and function of the printed novel in the digital age. As an experimental novel with yellowing pages and handwriting in the margins, S. appears to reflect a “material turn” in literature. It celebrates the book as a space of intimacy and memory, positioned in opposition to new digital media. However, the article argues that S. is also fundamentally and paradoxically grounded in digital culture. Drawing on the work of, for example, N. Katherine Hayles, Bill Brown, and Henry Jenkins, I point to a tension in S. It does at once (1) nostalgically celebrate the “aesthetics of bookishness” and (2) embrace a modern media culture where literature takes place beyond the book and between media.