Re: READING: OCT 21
Andrew Kean Smith (aks2c@faraday.clas.virginia.edu)
Thu, 24 Oct 1996 18:27:47 -0400 (EDT)
Hello class,
This is in response to Ches's E-mail. It responds more
specifically to the question, "what will be the effects of
more accessible, linked, hypertext studies (of Chaucer, for
example).
I think these effects will be both good and bad.
The good: with the addition of more scholars (professional
and otherwise) processing in parallel various works, better
scholarship will emerge--that much is certain. The bad: the idea
of a common curriculum becomes blurry. One of the great
things about studying say, "The Wife of Bath's Prologue," lies
in its capability as a type mythology--with which we are all
familiar. The availability of new versions might work to
destoy the dialogue that springs from this familiarity.
Obvious parallels to the effects of hypertext, in
general, ensue, etc.