pole cat
starfish and coffee (afm2u@faraday.clas.virginia.edu)
Fri, 4 Oct 1996 00:19:04 -0400 (EDT)
poles in your face. now if that aint a damn fine title i don't know what
is.
I think that in Jurgen's very nicely laid-out list of the pros and cons of
hypertext illustrated some very good points regarding the great conflict
between tangible literature and hypertext. When we realize that hypertext
means the death of the author, does that mean that we are forced to accept
that the ambiguous authors of hypertext cant write?
granted, there are exceptions to every rule. there are a few stray english
majors who have succumbed to this "totally postmodern"(that's for
ches)medium, but like jurgen said, a large part of hypertext is poorly
written. which means that something crucial is lost between the book and
the hyperbook. I think it will come down to what is more important--the
interactive,loss of linearity, and three-dimensional aspects of hypertext
or the mental challenge(in a written sense)of the book. Not to mention
the fact that people like books. People like to have something they can
hold in their hand yet still travel through. People are intimate with
books.I just dont think we'll see the day when we can curl up in bed with
a good computer.(so yes mr. unsworth, i do think that books can be
interactive)
It seems to me that hypertext(to reitterate all of the
postmodernavantgarde descriptions) anchors its purpose in the modernist
notion that nothing is original. the reader interaction,choose-your-own
adventure aspect is a successful attempt at forcing an original on us.
I think what is so ironic about the conflict between books and hypertext
is thhat we are bombarded with examples of precursors to hypertext, such
as tristram shandy...they are classified as texts that paved the way to
this new medium, but because they dont have the pretty pictures, because
the author is in control, they just arent good enough.
oh yeah, and in response to dan's question (from webcraft which was Last
Week thanks a lot Dan...) the "conceivable" website that might consist of
linked images containing no text that fit together to tell a story la la
la...I think that this is a good idea, but I think the lack of closure in
this instance would be frustrating. without text or direction or an
ending i think the "reader" would find the process more tedious than
enlightening...especially if he/she was someone without a fast-link
connection. but the concept has been done in tangible text as well...not
just comic books but with collage. max ernst did a novel in
pictures...alison what was that thing called? oh yeah une semaine
de(something)
anyway.
sorry if this has been useless rambling.
i think im going to go take my book out for a drink.
ansley
"Be careful when fighting monsters, lest ye become a monster yourself; and
if you look into an abyss long enough, the abyss will also look into you."
-Nietzsche