Hypertext Fiction Fail…? | Week Six Reading Reflection

For weeks now we have been exploring the theory and practice of hypertext: its origin, evolution, affordances and limitations. This week’s reading by Jane Yellowlees Douglas raises yet another new aspect of the medium to consider – that is, hypertext fiction.

As we have established in previous lectures and readings, traditional print texts contain a sequential, linear narrative, encompassing a defined beginning, middle and end, and generally the author intends for the story to be interpreted in one single way. Conversely, hypertext narratives, according to Douglas, consist of discrete segments of text (in the form of pages, sites or windows) which are associated by links. The ‘reader’ is active in that they have control over which path to take, and much of their understanding comes from the relationship between the segments of text they have chosen. No user experience is the same, and up to hundreds of possible versions of the text are inevitably created.

Interestingly, the text was written in 2000 and revolves around Douglas queries’ about the usage rates of print and hypertext fiction in the future. The way hypertext fiction was discussed about made it seem as though it was the next ‘big thing,’ not necessarily ruling books out of the picture, but certainly increasing in popularity. This left me a bit confused however, as I don’t think I had ever ‘read’ a traditional hypertext fiction myself. Thus, I deemed it necessary to jump on that bandwagon, and experience the unknown in order to give me a better understanding. I attempted to find the renowned ‘afternoon, a story,’ by Michael Joyce, but failed to find a version compatible with my computer. I branched out in searching for a hypertext fiction of any kind, but again didn’t have much luck. Instead, I came across the following article:

http://www.salon.com/2011/10/04/return_of_hypertext/

Author, Paul La Farge, discusses how and why the hypertext fiction did not find it’s place in society, with the last piece to be found have being published back in 2001. Perhaps it was ‘born into a world that wasn’t quite ready for it,’ or maybe it was found to be too difficult for authors to compose.

Assuming this information is accurate (however I’m sure Adrian will correct me if misinformed), many of Douglas’s interactive narrative based theories are now outdated. Whilst it sounded like an scheme with serious potential, it is interesting to see how some ideas seem to fail to launch. This is not to say however that hypertext in other forms was unsuccessful – I am purely considering it with this style of hypertext fiction in mind. No hate!

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