| Hypertext
Critical Theory
Still available 4/00 |
This is George Landow's site (see Who's Who
in Hypertheory for more information). Landow provides some of the
text of his print book, Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary
Critical Theory and Technology (or maybe the excerpts are from the
second version, called Hypertext 2.0). If you haven't read this
now-classic text, you need to visit this site. There is a lot of other
information here, including links to his Victorian and post-colonial webs
(using hypertext for exploring literature and literary background
information). |
| Electronic
Labyrinth
Still available 4/00 |
The Electronic Labyrinth is the result of a Canadian study of
hyperfiction. It is devoted almost entirely to hypertheory, and is
fairly extensive. The best part of this site is the description of the
evolution of hypertext
from manuscripts
and print books, including a timeline
of hypertext's development. The site also has bibliography of hypertheory
print books and articles. In addition to the hypertheory aspects, the
site discusses non-linear print books and evaluates some the hardware and
software used for non-Web hyperfiction. Be warned that this was completed
in 1993, so the software reviews are a bit dated, but the history and
background are still relevant. |
| Shadow
of an Informand
Still available 4/00 |
This is one of Stuart Moulthrop's sites on hyperfiction/hypertheory.
The full title is "Shadow of an Informand: An Experiment in Hypertext
Rhetoric." The site includes a discussion of hypertext and also of why
print is still so popular. The site was created as a "shadow" of a print
paper Moulthrop wrote for the Second European Conference on Hypertext.
The site is especially good on "Why
Print?" |
| Rhetoric
of the Web
Still available 4/00 |
This site is by Douglas Brent at the University of Calgary. It has to
do with the theory of hypertext, but is not as much about hyperfiction as
about rhetoric and argument. Brent examines whether non-linear texts
(i.e., hypertext) can successfully carry out arguments (which,
classically, rely on a linear form). He tries to discover what hypertext
can and cannot do well, and how the hypertext form influences the content,
including information on issues of closure, also how hypertext may lead to
channel-surfing rather than engagement. Especially interesting is his
discussion of creating
the site, and how the form influenced the content. |
| Hyperizons
Still available 4/00 |
This site, maintained by Michael Shumate, is mostly a listing
of hyperfiction stories and authors, but there is a pretty good annotated
bibliography of hypertheory books and sites. Shumate was (or still is?) a
graduate student at Duke, and this site came out of his master's thesis.
Shumate's comments about why he got
involved with hyperfiction and his thoughts on the state of
hyperfiction on the Web are of particular interest. |
| Hypertextual Consciousness
Still available 4/00 |
This is part of Mark Amerika's site. It is included in this
listing because a number of people seem quite enamoured with it and
impressed by it. I am not one of those people. The site is very brightly
colored and filled with lost of pretentious jargon, but very little
information. This seems to be more an experiment in post-modern something
than a real source of information. This is an example of the jargon
in Hypertextual Consciousness: "The cyborg-narrator, whose language
investigations will create fluid narrative worlds for other
cyborg-narrators to immerse themselves in, no longer has to feel bound by
the self-contained artifact of book media. Instead of being held hostage
by the page metaphor and its self-limiting texture as a landscape with
distinct borders, Hypertextual Consciousness can now link itself with a
multitude of discourse networks where various lines of flight circulate
and mediate the continued development of the collective-self as it rids us
of this need to surrender our thinking to outmoded conceptions of rhetoric
and authorship." To me, this could be condensed to "Authors are no longer bound by the limitations of print. Hypertext allows them new freedoms." |
| Mulciber
No longer available 4/00 |
This site claims to be the "Online Journal of Hyperfiction," but
seems to be a class project of some students at Illinois State University.
They claim to have gone through more than 200 hypertext-friendly sites.
The best part is the interesting, if not amazing, discussion of the types
of hyperfiction available on the Web. The site has a list of
hypertheory and hyperfiction sites, but many of the links seemed to be
dead or non-functional. |
| HyperLit/HyperTheory
Still available 4/00 |
This is a site created by a class at Virginia Tech. It includes a
collaborative annotated bibliography with very long commentaries on
hypertheory print books and articles and a few Web sites. Some of the
references seem a bit obscure or odd, but the commentaries are so long
that you won't need to try and find the original article. |
[Hyperfiction: Beyond the Printed Page]
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[Who's Who in Hyperfiction]
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