Louis J.

Prosperi
ENG341: Literature and Technology
Priscilla Perkins
Research Project Final Draft
December 9, 1998

HYPERTEXT FICTION: THE FUTURE OF NARRATIVE?

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The relationship between technology and literature extends far back in history, and includes such innovations as

the invention of writing which allowed stories to be committed to paper rather than being retold by bards and

troubadours, and the inventions of movable type and the printing press, which allowed texts of all kinds to be

disseminated throughout the world. The development of the computer, especially the recent growth of the home

computer, has given birth to a new relationship between technology and literature, a medium known as hypertext.

Beginning as a means of linking related information primarily for reference and educational purposes, hypertext has

since been used as a narrative medium, spawning a new narrative form referred to as hypertext fiction.

Since the early 1990s, hypertext fiction has gained some popularity among literary critics who see it as a new

literary and narrative form whose possibilities have only just barely been tapped. But while this new medium

continues to grow in complexity and popularity within some literary circles, some of the basic characteristics of the

hypertext medium threaten to limit its exposure and growth as a narrative and literary form. I believe that the nature

of the medium, both in form and structure, is to a large extent self-limiting, and that unless a number of the

medium's inherent limitations and constraints are addressed, hypertext fiction will never meet with widespread

acceptance or replace printed text and linear fiction, and will remain solely in the domain of academics and literary

critics.

To support my position, I will begin by defining and briefly outlining the origins of hypertext and hypertext

fiction. Following this I discuss a number of what I consider to be the challenges and limitations of the hypertext

medium, focusing on the ways in which the nature and form of the medium restrict its potential in gaining popularity

and widespread acceptance. For logistical reasons, I’m not able to include excerpts from hypertext fiction works in

this paper. Beyond the challenge of reproducing electronic text in hard copy, the very nature of hypertext fiction is

such that each reading of a hyperfiction work can be vastly different from the last, so any excerpts I might include

would be based solely on the choices I made as a reader of the work, and any observations made from such a reading

wouldn’t necessarily be representative of the work, but rather representative of my reading of the work.

THE ORIGINS OF HYPERTEXT AND HYPERTEXT FICTION

In order to understand the nature and limitations of hypertext as a narrative medium, we must first define what

we mean by the terms hypertext and hypertext fiction.

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The concept of hypertext was first introduced in an article by Vannevar Bush entitled “As We May Think” in

the July 1945 issue of Atlantic Monthly. In this article, Bush addresses the issue of how the massive amounts of

information generated by the fields of science might be better organized and made more accessible. One of the key

ideas in this article is what Bush refers to as a ’memex’ machine, a mechanical device that allows its user to

establish connections, or ‘paths’ between disparate pieces of information based on their relationships. Based on the

idea of linking information by association, in a manner similar to the way in which the human brain works rather

than by linear indexing, Bush’s article established the principles upon which later developments would eventually

lead to what we now refer to as hypertext.

Influenced by Bush’s vision outlined in “As We May Think”, in the 1960s Theodore Nelson and Douglas

Englebart developed computer systems to link texts, and in 1965 in his 1980 Literary Machines, Nelson coined the

term hypertext describing this new textuality as "non-sequential writing with reader-controlled links" (Travis). With

the origins of hypertext established, the next step is to define what is meant in this paper by the terms hypertext and

hypertext fiction.

In an essay entitled “The End of Books” in the New York Times Book Review, Robert Coover defines

hypertext as a generic term used to “describe the writing done in the nonlinear or nonsequential space made possible

by the computer.” (The End of Books, n.d.). Elaborating on this, Coover goes on to explain that

“hypertext provides multiple paths between text segments, now often called 'lexias'…. With its

webs of linked lexias, its networks of alternate routes (as opposed to print's fixed unidirectional

page-turning) hypertext presents a radically divergent technology, interactive and polyvocal,

favoring a plurality of discourses over definitive utterance and freeing the reader from domination

by the author” (The End of Books, n.d.).

Since its inception, hypertext has found a number of different uses, primarily in the area of computers. One

common use of hypertext is in computer "Help" files. These files, most often built into applications or operating

systems, provide users with help on using the various functions and features of the application or system. The

contents of most Help files cover a wide range of topics relating to different aspects of the application, and many

topics include cross-referenced hypertext links to other related topics within the Help file. Another common use of

hypertext is the World Wide Web, providing links between sections of web sites and between web sites which

establish connections and associations that form the web.

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If hypertext is defined as ‘the writing done in the nonlinear or nonsequential space made possible by the

computer,’ then what is hypertext fiction? Hypertext fiction might best be thought of as a type of fiction which

employs the nonlinear writing style of hypertext. Rather than the story leading the reader from paragraph to

paragraph, page to page, and chapter to chapter, instead, hypertext fiction allows the reader to choose his own path

through the narrative by selecting from a number of links appearing in each text segment of the work. Through their

choice of which link to choose at any given point in the story, readers of hypertext fiction create the story as they go,

with each link taking them to a different set of choices, and so on.

The first works of hypertext fiction appeared in the early 1980s, but the first major work of hypertext fiction

was Michael Joyce’s “afternoon, a story,” first published on floppy disk in 1987 and then later in 1990 in the

Storyspace format produced by Eastgate Systems, Inc. (Coover, The End of Books). Reading “afternoon, a story”

requires the reader to unravel interwoven strands of narrative to make sense of the story, an effort that parallels the

struggle of the story's main character to learn whether his son and estranged wife have been killed in a car accident

(Kendall).

According to Howard Becker, Joyce's “afternoon, a story” is largely experimental, using the possibilities of

hypertext to create poetic and mysterious patterns of words, which in turn create seemingly endless loops in which

the reader can feel trapped, leaving the narrative unresolved (n.d.). Other works of hypertext fiction have grown out

of the full range of available styles. Some are more or less conventional novels, dealing with such topics as

university life or romance. Others, such as Stuart Moulthrop's "Victory Garden" (1991), use the possibilities of

hypertext to make it easier to tell a complex story, crisscrossing narrative lines in complex patterns which result

from the intersection of readers' choices within author-created constraints (n.d.).

Hypertext of all kinds is grounded in the world of the computer;. it is written on the computer, and can only be

read on a computer. A small number of hypertext-authoring programs have been developed since the first works

were written in the early 1980s, but the most commonly used currently is a program called Storyspace, created by

Jay David Bolter and Michael Joyce and produced by Eastgate Systems, Inc., one of the foremost publishers of

hypertext (both fiction and non-fiction). When writing in Storyspace, the writer creates a number of nodes, or lexias,

and then, using the special mapping functions of the Storyspace program, creates linkages between nodes,

eventually creating a vast web of connections between nodes based on associations the author has established

between different segments of text.

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Most works of hypertext are packaged as a diskette (or diskettes in the case of larger works) which contain

built-in reader/viewer software. Thus a reader simply inserts the diskette into his computer and starts the program to

begin reading. While some hypertext can be found on the World Wide Web, most works are generally only available

direct from their publishers and are fairly costly, especially in comparison to print books. One example of this,

Joyce’s “afternoon, a story,” is only available from Eastgate Systems, and costs $19.95 on diskette.

When a reader begins reading a work of hypertext fiction, he sees an opening screen of text, often including the

title and author’s name, as well as instructions for how to proceed. The reader is most likely given a number of

options for how to begin reading, each of which will take them in a different direction through the story. As each

new node appears on the screen, certain words are highlighted (indicating them as links). In some other cases, nodes

contain pictures, menus, or any of a number of different types of information. The reader must then choose from

among the links that appear on the screen in order to continue along in the story, with each taking the reader in a

potentially different direction. Since the story is different each time it is read, some consider the reader as a sort of

co-author along with the author of the work, as the reader’s decisions and choices along the way play such a large

part in determining the final outcome (if any) of the story.

LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS OF THE HYPERTEXT MEDUIM

Though the medium of hypertext offers an open spectrum of possibilities in terms of the stories it can tell and

the manner in which it can tell them, it also has a number of what I consider to be significant limitations and

constraints that serve to stem its growth, particularly as a narrative form. These limitations include the changes

hypertext imposes on the nature of reading and readers, the challenges associated with navigation in hypertext, and

changes in narrative structure in hypertext. The following section discusses these limitations and constraints,

highlighting the nature of these challenges and the impact they have on the growth of hypertext as a narrative

medium.

At a fundamental level, the mediums of hypertext and hypertext fiction impose a change in what we

traditionally think of as reading and the role of a reader. In many ways, reading hypertext constitutes a new form of

reading, one which requires a new form of reader. These changes include the ways in which hypertext is physically

read, but also encompass the participatory nature of hypertext, and the different mental processes called upon when

reading hypertext.
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In "The End of Books," Robert Coover discusses the changes imposed on reading by hypertext fiction by noting

that hypertext fiction is "a new kind of fiction, and a new kind of reading. The form of the text is rhythmic, looping

on itself in patterns and layers that gradually accrete meaning, just as the passage of time and events does in one's

lifetime." As the reader tries the various links within the work, the narrative is brought together in different

configurations formed by the reader's interest. Comparing reading of hypertext to print, Coover says "The difference

between reading hyperfiction and reading traditional printed fiction may be the difference between sailing the

islands and standing on the dock watching the sea. One is not necessarily better than the other" (The End of Books,

n.d.).

Coover doesn’t explore these comparisons further, but they raises a few questions for me. Is it the experience of

events and the passage of time in a person’s life that creates meaning, or is it the distinctions and insight one gains

from examining the relationships between those events. Is Coover’s accretion of meaning that comes from reading

hypertext fiction simply a result of layering of text passages, or is it created by the relationships between those text

passages? This distinction, between the simple layering of text passages (or events) and the relationships between

them, is intriguing in its implications. If printed or linear fiction is thought to be akin to layering of text or events

while hypertext fiction is more closely associated to relationships between text passages or events, and meaning

accretes from relationships between text or events, then Coover’s comparison between the way in which meaning

accretes in hypertext fiction and in a person’s life seems to make more sense. Regarding his comparison between

reading hypertext fiction and traditional printed fiction, Coover seems to associate hypertext fiction to sailing and

printed fiction to watching the sea from the shore, suggesting that he views hypertext fiction as a more exploratory

and participatory medium than traditional fiction. But doesn't reading even the most traditional printed fiction

require the reader to engage their imagination in such a way that they are exploring the world created by the author's

words? Is it really fair to suggest that one form is more exploratory than the other?

While convinced that reading hypertext is different from that of reading traditional text, Sven Birkerts, author of

The Gutenberg Elegies, questions whether reading hypertext should be referred to as reading at all. He writes,

Consider the difference. Text A, old-style, composed by a single author on a typewriter, edited,

typeset, published, distributed through bookstores, where it is purchased by the reader, who

ingests it in the old way, turning pages, front to back, assembling a structure of sense deemed to be

the necessary structure because from among the myriad existing possibilities the author selected it.
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Now look at Text B, the hypertext product composed by one writer, or several, on a computer,

using a software program that facilitates options. The work can be read in linear fashion . . . but . .

. the reader can choose to follow any number of subnarrative paths, can call up photographic

supplements to certain key descriptions, can select . . . possible endings. What is it that we do with

B? Do we still call it reading? Or would we do better to coin a new term, something like 'texting'

or 'word-piloting'? (163 - 164)

Molly Abel Travis, writing in Mosaic, believes that within the next few decades, cybernetic reading will replace

the linear, solitary and closed reading of printed text. This, Travis believes, necessitates a new type of reader. "The

ideal reader for hypertext has been/is being constructed through sustained exposure to the intertextualities and

virtualities of mass media and information technologies. This is a reader whose experience includes exposure to

cinematic fast cuts (MTV short-attention span)" (n.d.). Continuing, Travis notes that the readers of hypertext are

those who will steer away from the default path (in which the meaning and order gained from a source of

information comes from a traditional, linear path through that information) to establish connections and finds ways

through a sea of information. "Out of the seeming chaos of hypertext, the reader engages in aleatoric (improvised or

random in character), improvisational combinations that construct order" (n.d.).

But is this new type of reading going to attract new readers? Coover is not so convinced when he writes,

"Where are the readers? Fun as it is to talk about 'multidirectionality' and 'interactivity,' the simple linear trajectories

of the earthbound, once thought confining and inflexible, are seen to have a certain reassuring structure"

(Hyperfiction: Beginning, n.d.). Coover's 'certain reassuring structure' most likely refers the known familiar qualities

of traditional fiction which provide readers with an understanding of the form they are reading. In this way, the new

form of reading that hypertext fiction represents is fraught with unknown and unfamiliar qualities which can scare

away readers.

One of the most basic limitations of the hypertext medium is based on the fact that it is an electronic medium,

and its very nature requires that the text be in electronic form, necessitating some sort of electronic viewing device,

most commonly a computer screen. As Robert Kendall writes in "Writing for the New Millennium: The Birth of

Electronic Literature", "the biggest obstacle to the widespread acceptance of electronic books and magazines is
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currently the primitive state of the technology for reading them. Staring at today's computer screen just doesn't have

the same attraction as curling up with a good book” (n.d.).

In an article in the New York Times Book Review entitled "Hyperfiction: Novels for the Computer,” Robert

Coover acknowledges this by noting that not all readers want to read a story sitting in front of a computer keyboard.

"Many readers regard this medium with a kind of queasy skepticism, fearful of getting helplessly entangled in the

gadgetry, of starting something that cannot be finished, of losing their way and missing everything important."

(Hyperfiction: Novels, n.d.) This is aggravated by the length of time it takes to read a full-length work, such as

Moulthrop's "Victory Gardens" or even Joyce's “afternoon, a story.” "In fact, reading an interactive hypertext short

story the length of “afternoon,” which contains 538 screens, takes longer than reading a 300-page novel" (Travis).

Sven Birkerts notes that not only are readers of hypertext "affronted aesthetically…by ugly type fonts and crude

display options, but he has to wheel and click the cumbersome mouse to keep the interaction going” (Birkerts 162).

Citing a personal experience with reading a hypertext work Birkerts says

…sitting at my friend's terminal I experienced constant interruption -- the reading surface was

fractured, rendered collagelike by the appearance of starred keywords and suddenly materialized

menu boxes. I did not feel the exhilarating freedom I had hoped to feel. I felt, rather, an assault

upon what I had unreflectingly assumed to be my reader's prerogatives. (162)

One curious point in this observation is that Birkerts expected and hoped to feel 'exhilarating freedom' when

reading hypertext fiction. This expectation is most likely born of the fact that hypertext fiction allows the reader to

find their own way through the nodes, free to follow any path they choose. But as Birkerts experience points out, the

manner in which this freedom of choice is provided to the reader can also prove to be limit the freedom it is intended

to offer.

In addition to the physical considerations of reading hypertext, reading a work of hypertext fiction also requires

a higher level of participation on the part of the reader. While readers of traditional ‘linear’ fiction are required to

engage their imaginations when reading, reading hypertext requires a more participatory involvement on the part of

the reader, who in addition to simply reading the work also in part determines the course the narrative will take,

necessitating a far more active role. When reading a traditional novel, beyond engaging their imagination in

following the events and characters of the story, the reader is effectively lead through the story by the text, in
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essence, taken along for a ride. In contrast, in hypertext, each new screen (or node) entered requires decisions on the

part of the reader. The reader must not only read the text of each window, but then choose from among the available

links in order to continue on in the narrative. This is especially true in what Michael Joyce refers to as constructive

hypertext, which “permits the reader structurally to alter the text. In constructive hypertext the reader can function as

a writer” (Travis). Another way of putting this is “In essence, the task of selecting a path through a hypertext

document requires that a reader make decisions and predictions about the relationships among the various topics (as

signaled by the labels of the links)” (Wenger and Payne). This notion of 'reader as writer' is central to the

participatory nature of hypertext fiction, since a given 'reading' of a hypertext fiction work is formed solely through

the reader's choices of which links to follow through the nodes that comprise the work. Works of hypertext fiction

require this type of participation on the part of the reader. In many works, there is no linear path to follow. Without

the active participation of the reader, the story and narrative can go nowhere. In contrast to traditional fiction, which

leads the reader through the narrative, hypertext fiction forces the reader to direct and lead the narrative through

active participation.

With the numerous links available to choose from at each node, the level of participation required by the reader

can lead to increased indecision as they progress through a work, being forced to forge their own way through the

narrative. In some cases, selecting certain links can bring the reader back to a previously viewed node, resulting in

seemingly endless loops of links and connections. In addition, there is also the issue of how the reader is to decide

from the choice of links available. Links most often appear as colored or highlighted words or phrases within a

larger body of text. When confronted by these, the reader must choose one based on their own judgement, most

often without any sort of guidance from the work itself. This lack of guidance from the work leaves the reader

wondering at each link if he's made the 'right' choice. Though technically there should be no 'right' or 'wrong' choice

between links, I know in my experience reading hypertext fiction that each time I selected a link, even as I clicked

the mouse button to move on to the next node I wondered what lie behind the links I didn't choose. It placed me as a

reader in the role of writer, complete with the responsibility for the results of the choices I made.

Another significant change in the nature of reading associated with hypertext are changes in the mental

processes involved in reading hypertext versus traditional linear text. In a study concerning the comprehension and

retention of nonlinear text, Michael Wenger and David Payne concluded that “hypertext requires a different balance

of processing resources than does linear text” (n.d.). These processing resources consist of the mental processes by
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which readers perceive and interpret words on a printed page or computer screen. This difference constitutes what

Wenger and Payne consider to be a different type of reading when they note that

hypertext represents a radical change in the way that individuals use text, one that might better

support learning and retention (e.g., Jonassen, 1988; Utting & Yankelovich, 1989; see also

Engelbart, 1963). Independent of the validity of these claims, it is certainly true that reading

hypertext represents a different reading task than that represented by reading traditional linear

discourse. (n.d.)

In summarizing the results of their study, the authors state although processing hypertext is not more demanding

overall than processing linear text, hypertext appears to impose more demands for relational processing than does

linear text (n.d.). This 'relational processing,' processing pieces of information based on its relationships with other

pieces of information, is very similar to the idea of thinking by association, one of the fundamental concepts behind

the design of Vannevar Bush's 'memex' machine in "As We May Think." This suggests that the concept of hypertext

as first conceived by Bush has been realized in modern hypertext, a medium based upon the idea of connection by

association, the comprehension of which in turn requires more relational processing, or associative thinking, than

linear text. But is this a profound realization or a case of self-fulfilling prophecy? Are the demands of relational

processing imposed by hypertext nothing more than the result of the original concepts which gave birth to the

medium? In an effort to devise a medium better suited to thinking by association, have hypertext authors created a

medium that so well fulfills its original goal that it in fact, requires thinking by association in order to be understood

at all? This sort of 'which came first, the chicken or the egg?' question is one that could be the hypothesis for a much

larger work than this paper.

The difference in the mental processes involved in reading hypertext reflects a fundamental change in the way a

reader is able to process what they read. When a reader sits down to read something, whether it be a work of fiction

or non-fiction, their brain begins to process that information in the same way it has done so in the past, relying on

the same cognitive processes. These include interpreting the meanings of the individual words within the context of

the sentences in which they appear, interpreting the meaning of the sentences within the context of surrounding

sentences and the paragraph in which they appear, (as well within the context of previous sentences and paragraphs),

interpreting the meaning of paragraphs within the context of previous paragraphs and so on. However, because
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reading nonlinear text requires different cognitive processes, it may be difficult for some readers to adjust to the

needs of processing hypertext. The situation is analogous to an American tourist learning to drive in a European

country where they drive on the left side of the road. The driver’s unconscious conditioning is towards driving on

the right side of the road, but they are forced to drive on the left.

Reading hypertext also puts different demands on the user’s memory and recall. As a reader moves through a

text, they rely on their memory to recall past events and circumstances in the story. In traditional narrative, this

requires linear memory, in which events and actions are remembered in their relative timing in the story . This is not

the case in hypertext, since in addition to the content of the text, they must also remember the connections and links

between the individual pieces of text which have led them to this point in the narrative.

Another significant challenge associated with hypertext is navigation. One of the primary innovations of

hypertext, allowing the reader to choose his own path through a given work, can often serve to confuse and disorient

readers, who are more accustomed to being lead along a linear narrative by the text. This disorientation often comes

from the multitude of links and connections found within many works of hypertext fiction. The following

description of Stuart Moulthrop’s “Victory Garden” taken from Robert Coover’s “Hyperfiction: Novels On the

Computer” provides an example just how complex some works of hypertext fiction can be:

The routes through Stuart Moulthrop's new hyperfiction "Victory Garden" are almost literally

countless. Altogether there are nearly a thousand text spaces and over 2,800 electronic links

between them. One is invited to "come in" by way of a sentence constructed by the reader, word

by word, out of a set of choices that will yield as many as 56 different such sentences on the

themes of beginnings, labyrinths, time, America, words, dreams, truth. When completed, these

opening sentences link to at least 47 different starting points in the narrative proper, from which

there are no fewer than 194 separate links to other text spaces, each in turn with branching options.

(Hyperfiction: Novels, n.d.)

With such a vast array of choices confronting the reader, as they click their way through the web of connections

and links that make up most works of hypertext fiction, readers can often find themselves lost and unsure of where

they’ve been and where they’re going. Coover notes that all the links, buttons and maps are not only vexing

novelties, but sometimes they appear more compelling than the text itself. It’s as if the table of contents, indexes,
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appendixes and jacket designs of a printed book have swallowed up the actual text. And if struggling with the

procedures of hypertext takes so much effort, how can the reader find the time to appreciate the other more subtle

aspects of fiction, such as style, voice, eloquence, character, or story? (Hyperfiction: Novels, n.d.)

These difficulties, notes Howard Becker, are known in the world of hypertext as “the navigation problem.” This

terms refers to the fact that uninitiated readers, which all readers are when they read their first hypertext, often have

difficulties not knowing what to do. A much more fundamental and serious problem is that often readers don’t know

what to do, and “get lost,” complaining that they “don’t know where they are” in relation to the beginning and end

of the text. Further, they often can’t find their way to a place in the text that will help them orient themselves to the

body of texts that confronts them (n.d.). Interestingly, the concepts of 'beginning' and 'end' are largely irrelevant in

much hypertext fiction, since it's often impossible for the reader to know if he's actually reached the end of a

hypertext fiction, or if he's started at the actual beginning. But the complaints by readers about not knowing where

they are in relation to the beginning and end of a hypertext suggest that these concepts are so ingrained in most

readers' minds that they have difficulty abandoning them, and that the sensation of being 'lost' is quite disconcerting

to many readers.

Recognizing these navigational challenges, authors of hypertext fiction typically begin with instructions as to

how to read them, a feature which Becker contends embodies the problems of hypertext navigation (n.d.). These

instructions explain that readers may see the same passage more than once in the course of reading a hypertext, and

that this is not an error or malfunction. Hypertext instructions also explain that readers can “save this “reading” (that

is, the sequence of choices you have already made) to be taken up again later, as you would "save your place" in a

printed text with a bookmark” (n.d.). In response to this, Becker asks, “Why do readers of hypertexts need

explanations? Print books do not come with preliminary matter that explains how to open the book, then how to

proceed by turning, or how to insert a bookmark if you wish to remember where you stopped reading” (n.d.).

But while the myriad options and links confronting readers of hypertext play a large role in “the navigation

problem” the nonlinear structure of hypertext fiction plays an equally large role in creating navigational challenges.

In a study on the effects of text structure and prior knowledge of the learner on navigation in hypertext, Sharon

McDonald and Rosemary Stevenson outline three primary organizational structures used in hypertext; hierarchical,

non-linear, and mixed (which combines an overall hierarchy with linked connections). Samples of each structure

were used in the study to examine “the effects of different hypertext typologies (i.e. different structures) on
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navigation performance and user disorientation.” In the opening comments of their study, the authors note that

disorientation is a major limiting factor of hypertext and that “disoriented users may encounter problems in deciding

where they want to go in hypertext and how to get there” (n.d.). This disorientation often causes readers to stop

reading too soon when left to decide what and how much information to read. The results of the study showed that

the text structure affects the ease with which hypertext can be used. Specifically, “in both browsing and navigation,

mixed text produced the best performance, hierarchical text produced the next best, and nonlinear text produced the

poorest” (n.d.). By way of explanation of these results, the authors state

The difference between the nonlinear condition and the other two text conditions probably arose

because of the different levels of control offered by the three text structures. Nonlinear text places

few constraints on users’ movements, giving them unlimited freedom to explore the network.

However, this freedom has it costs. Participants seemed overwhelmed by the multitude of choices

offered by nonlinear hypertext. This places a high cognitive burden on users such that they must

simultaneously focus on their information retrieval goals and on orienting themselves within the

hypertextual space. (n.d.)

Beyond the changes to the nature of reading and readers, and the challenges of navigation in hypertext, a further

challenge of hypertext fiction involves the changes in narrative structure brought about by the medium of hypertext.

Because of the nonlinear approach to narrative which is at the heart of hypertext fiction, the nature and structure of

narrative in hypertext fiction differs from that of traditional fiction. Citing one way in which this is true, Robert

Coover notes that in hypertext, “the creative imagination often becomes more preoccupied with linkage, routing and

mapping than with statement or style, or with what we would call character or plot (two traditional narrative

elements that are decidedly in jeopardy)” (The End of Books, n.d.). In hypertext fiction, the emphasis is on the

relationships and connections between the characters, settings, and events of the story, rather on the characters,

settings and events themselves.

This emphasis on relationships and connections is strengthened, perhaps inadvertently, by the use of highlighted

words and links within a text block. When the reader sees a word or phrase highlighted, the simple use of color or

highlighting imparts an emphasis on those words or phrases that the reader can’t ignore. Once his attention has been

brought to the highlighted words or phrases, the reader then must guess or imagine the significance of the link and
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where it might take him in the narrative. For example, suppose the following sentences comprised a node in a work

of hypertext fiction. As you read these sentences, you come across certain highlighted words. This highlighting

draws attention to these words, and leads the reader to wonder what the significance of the highlighting is, and

where in the narrative following the link associated with the highlighted word will take him or her. As the reader

selects one of these links and moves on to the next node, they establish a connection between the nodes based on the

connections between the nodes and the links which form that connection. As a result, where traditional narrative is

driven by characters and actions as portrayed in printed paragraphs and chapters of text, narrative in hypertext

fiction is found in the connections and associations between the text blocks, associations suggested by the links

within those text blocks.

In addition, the standard treatment of other elements of narrative including point of view and voice are often

dismissed or ignored in hypertext fiction. The use of different types of ‘texts’ in various nodes, such as images or

pictures, personal journals or diaries, or newspaper articles effectively eliminates the concept of point of view as it is

traditionally understood. How can the point of view of a hypertext fiction be determined if the voice can shift so

readily from 'traditional' text, such as. a sentence or paragraph in a node, to a reproduction of a page from a scrap

book or a television broadcast? Similarly, the element of voice as it is traditionally employed is lost when the reader

can go from a dialog between two characters in one node to a news broadcast or diary entry in the next.

But the changes in narrative structure in hypertext fiction go beyond a simple change in emphasis from plot and

character to associations between events and characters. The concepts of narrative flow, cohesion, and closure are all

subject to change in this new medium. Addressing these ideas and how they are represented in hypertext, Coover

asks

And what of narrative flow? There is still movement, but in hyperspace's dimensionless infinity, it

is more like endless expansion; it runs the risk of being so distended and slackly driven as to lose

its centripetal force, to give way to a kind of static low-charged lyricism -- that dreamy gravityless

lost-in-space feeling of the early sci-fi films. How does one resolve the conflict between the

reader's desire for coherence and closure and the text's desire for continuance, its fear of death?

Indeed, what is closure in such an environment? If everything is middle, how do you know when

you are done, either as reader or writer? If the author is free to take a story anywhere at any time
ENG 341 Literature and Technology Final Draft Louis J. Prosperi 09/13/10 Page 15

and in as many directions as she or he wishes, does that not become the obligation to do so? (The

End of Books, n.d.)

To elaborate on just one of these elements, the importance and significance of closure can be seen in The

Octopus one of the novels on our reading list this semester. Closure in The Octopus occurs when S. Berhman meets

his demise under the flood of wheat in the storage hold of the ship on which Presley journeys to India. The reader

has a sense through the novel that Berhman will eventually die or be killed. In fact, Berhman narrowly avoids being

killed at least twice, first during the shoot out between the ranchers and the railroad employees and sheriff, and when

Presley tosses a bomb into his house. It not until Berhman (representing the railroad) has all but ruined the lives of

every last one of the San Joaquin ranchers and has claimed the harvested wheat for his own that he dies, drowning

under the wheat as it's being loaded into the cargo ship, as if of all things, only the wheat he sought to sell and profit

from could kill him. Were this story presented as hypertext fiction, there is a good possibility that many readers

might never reach the node (or nodes) which depict or describe S. Berhman's fate, whichout which the story told in

The Octopus would feel very unfinished and unresovled. This is just a simple example the changes to narrative

elements such as closure are brought about by the hypertext medium.

An Example

By way of further example of the differences in narrative structure between works of linear and hypertext

fiction, I’ve taken a traditional linear short story, entitled ‘Bury Them Deep’ and have imported it into a form of

hypertext. The story takes places in a fictional world known as 7th Sea, a world of pirates and swashbuckling.

In doing this, I broke down the text of the story into several nodes, each comprised of one or more paragraphs. I

then included links between these nodes, emphasizing associations and connections between a number of characters,

settings and items of the story, as well as associations between certain images and scenes. The intent was to place

emphasis on the relationships and associations between these characters, settings and objects, rather on the

individual characters, settings and objects themselves. The resulting hypertext allows the reader to experience a

story composed of the same words as the linear version, but one that reads as a very different story. For example, the

chronology of the story is significantly different when read as hypertext, as the reader is likely to skip about the

timeline of the story as he follows certain links between nodes. In addition, the revelations that occur during the
ENG 341 Literature and Technology Final Draft Louis J. Prosperi 09/13/10 Page 16

story do so occur a different order in the hypertext version, in some cases allowing the reader to learn the truth of

events and circumstances before those events have taken place in their reading of the story.

My experience working with this experiment in hypertext has given me a better understanding of the intricacies

of hypertext as a narrative medium. As I inserted links and established connections between nodes, I often found

myself trying to make sure the linear story wasn't lost. This was one of the challenges of using a work written as

traditional fiction. The form, and my familiarity and affinity to that form, resisted the change to the new medium. As

for my results, I think the hypertext version of the story works better as an example of the changes in narrative

structure in the hypertext medium than as an example of the medium itself. Writing hypertext fiction requires more

than creating links between passages of text. It requires a new approach to writing narrative and stories, one that

takes advantage of its unique properties and capabilities.

I began this paper with the purpose of discussing the inherent limitations and constraints of the medium of

hypertext, specifically hypertext fiction, and how unless those limitations are addressed, hypertext will never meet

with widespread acceptance. The above exploration of the various limitations and constraints of hypertext fiction is

not intended to suggest that the medium is invalid or is doomed to obscurity, but rather to point out the challenges

the medium faces in gaining wider acceptance. And while many new narrative and artistic mediums have faced

challenges in gaining acceptance beyond the world of academia, the medium of hypertext, in particular hypertext

fiction, imposes a number of limitations and constraints in terms of both form and structure which need to be

addressed in order for the medium to take its place as an accepted narrative form.

Discussing some of the challenges associated with hypertext, Joseph Janangelo states “Foltz writes that

“Success for hypertexts lies in exploiting the powers of both the computer and the writer to generate better

personalized texts.” He adds that “the future of hypertext depends on improving both models of the user and models

of the text”” (40). But the challenges associated with the changes in reading and readers, navigation and changes in

narrative structure discussed in this paper are not the only obstacles facing hypertext fiction. Perhaps the biggest

challenge facing hypertext fiction is not among those described above, but is instead the tendency of viewing and

judging the medium in terms of traditional literature instead of seeing it as a new and distinct form with its own

qualities and characteristics. While changes that address some of the challenges outlined in this paper might go a

long ways towards increasing the acceptance and popularity of hypertext fiction, I believe that changes on the part of
ENG 341 Literature and Technology Final Draft Louis J. Prosperi 09/13/10 Page 17

the reader are also necessary. Readers will need to 'unlearn' how to read fiction, let go of their affinity towards

beginnings and endings and other trappings of traditional fiction and ovecome the conditioned expectations born

from hundreds of years of reading linear text. Certain stories are best suited to certain mediums. Traditional, linear

narratives do not translate particularly well into hypertext, and vice versa. The new and different narrative structures

used in hypertext fiction has resulted in new types of stories, those best told in hypertext, the medium which gave

them birth.
ENG 341 Literature and Technology Final Draft Louis J. Prosperi 09/13/10 Page 18

Works Cited

Becker, Howard. A New Art Form: Hypertext Fiction. Cambridge, MA. How to Read a Hypertext. Ed. Mark
Bernstein. Eastgate (forthcoming) <http://www.weber.u.washington.edu/~hbecker/lison.html>

Birkerts, Sven. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. Winchester, Eng: Faber and
Faber, 1994

Coover, Robert. “The End of Books.” New York Times Book Review. 21 June 1992.
<http://search.nytimes.com/books/search/bin/fastweb?getdoc+book-site+book-site+10941+1+wAAA+ The
End of Books>.

Coover, Robert. “Hyperfiction: Novels for the Computer.” New York Times Book Review. 29 August 1993.
<http://search.nytimes.com/books/search/bin/fastweb?getdoc+book-news+book-
n+28687+24+wAAA+Robert Coover>

Coover, Robert. “Hyperfiction; And Hypertext Is Only the Beginning. Watch Out!.” New York Times Book
Review. 29 August 1993. <http://search.nytimes.com/books/search/bin/fastweb?getdoc+book-news+book-
n+28685+25+wAAA+Robert Coover>

Janangelo, Joseph. “Joseph Cornell and the Artistry of Composing Persuasive Hypertexts.” College Composition
and Communication February 1998: 24-44

Kendall, Robert. “Writing for the New Millennium: The Birth of Electronic Literature” Poets & Writers Magazine
Nov./Dec. 1995: <http://www.wenet.net/~rkendall/pw1.htm>.

McDonald, Sharon and Rosemary J. Stevenson. “Effects of Text Structure and Prior Knowledge of the Learner on
Navigation in Hypertext.” Human Factors March 1998: 18+

Travis, Molly Abel. “Cybernetic Esthetics, Hypertext and the Future of Literature.” Mosaic (Winnipeg) December
1996: 116+

Wenger, Michael J. and David G. Payne. “Comprehension and Retention of Nonlinear Text: Considerations of
Working Memory and Material-Appropriate Processing.” American Journal of Psychology. Spring 1996:
93+