Overview

What is Ergodic Literature?

Ergodic literature was first proposed by Espen J. Aarseth, a professor at the IT University of Copenhagen. Aarseth defines ergodic literature as literature where a “…nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text. If ergodic literature is to make sense as a concept, there must also be nonergodic literature, where the effort to traverse the text is trivial, with no extranoematic responsibilities placed on the reader except (for example) eye movement and the periodic or arbitrary turning of pages.” (Aarseth as quoted by Baron, 2021). In other words, ergodic literature makes you do more work than just reading text on a page. It usually involves added ephemera, puzzles, or jumping from random page to random page in order to fully read the text. Ergodic literature can also involve a plethora of footnotes, marginalia, or "sometimes just a few scattered words tossed across the page like confetti." (Baron, 2021)

"Ergodic"...what does it mean?

The term "ergodic" comes from the Greek words ergon, meaning "work", and hodos, meaning "path". Tong King Lee states that "it is the effect of the interaction, not merely intellectual but often physical-sensorial, between the reader, the verbal and nonverbal signs, and the material medium that embodies the text." (Lee, 2017, 173)

​

Ergodic literature overlaps significantly with cybertext according to scholars like Lee and Aarseth. Lee adds that “a necessary condition of cybertextuality is this: the reader must be invited or compelled to make choices as to how to engage with the text; such choices will lead to certain  nontrivial work (physical or cognitive, or both), which can affect the material outcome (either substantive or presentational) of the textual product the reader eventually receives.” (Lee, 2017, 174)

Earliest ergodic text

The I Ching

The I Ching is "possibly the best-known example of cybertext in antiquity." (Aarseth, 1997, 9) This Chinese oracular text dates from around 1122-770 BC and was written by several different authors. Aarseth describes the I Ching as being "made up of sixty-four symbols, or hexagrams, which are the binary combinations of six whole or broken ('changing') lines...A hexagram contains a main text and six small ones, one for each line. By manipulating three coins or forty-nine yarrow stalks according to a randomizing principle, the texts of two hexagrams are combined, producing one out of 4,096 possible texts." (Aarseth, 1997, 9-10) Navigate to the "Examples of Ergodic Literature" tab to see ergodic literature from the 20th and 21st century.