Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the
use of hypertext
links which provides a new context for non-linearity in "literature"
and reader interaction. The reader typically chooses links to move from one
node of text to the next, and in this fashion arranges a story from a deeper
pool of potential stories. Its spirit can also be seen in interactive fiction.
The term can also be used to
describe traditionally-published books in which a non-linear and interactive
narrative is achieved through internal references. Vladimir
Nabokov's Pale Fire (1962) and Julio
Cortázar's Rayuela
(1963; translated as Hopscotch) are early examples (predating the word hypertext),
while a common pop-culture example is the "Choose Your Own Adventure" format of
young adult fiction.
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The first hypertext fictions were
published prior to the development of the World
Wide Web, using software such as Storyspace and Hypercard. Michael
Joyce's Afternoon, a story, first presented in 1987
and published by Eastgate Systems in 1991, is generally considered
one of the first hypertext fictions. Afternoon was followed by a series
of other Storyspace hypertext fictions from Eastgate
Systems, including Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, its
name was Penelope by Judy Malloy, (whose hyperfiction Uncle Roger was
published online on Artcom Electronic Network on The WELL from
1986-1987) Carolyn Guyer's Quibbling, Shelley
Jackson's Patchwork Girl and Deena Larsen's Marble
Springs. Judy Malloy's l0ve0ne, created
in 1994, was the first selection in the Eastgate Web Workshop.
Douglas
Cooper's Delirium (1994) was the first novel serialized on the World
Wide Web; it permitted navigation between four parallel story strands.
Shortly thereafter, in 1997, Mark Amerika released GRAMMATRON, a significantly more multi-linear work which was
eventually exhibited in art galleries. In 2000, it was included in the Whitney
Biennial of American Art. [1][2]
Some other web examples of
hypertext fiction include Adrienne Eisen's Six Sex
Scenes (1995), Stuart Moulthrop's Hegirascope,
(1995,1997) Sunshine 69, The Unknown (which won the trAce(Alt X award in 1998), The Company Therapist, and Caitlin Fisher's These Waves of Girls
(2001) (which won the ELO award for fiction in 2001).
The internationally oriented but
U.S. based Electronic Literature Organization
(ELO) was founded in 1999 to promote the creation and enjoyment of electronic
literature. Other organisations for the promotion of electronic literature
include trAce Online Writing Community, a British
organisation that has fostered electronic literature in the UK, Dichtung
Digital, a journal of criticism of electronic literature in English and German,
and ELINOR, a network for electronic literature in the Nordic countries, which
provides a
directory of Nordic electronic literature. The Electronic Literature Directory lists many works of
electronic literature in English and other languages.
© http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_fiction
Academic year
2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
©Marta Soler Gamero /marsoga@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press