Abstract
This article briefly surveys the changing theoretical perspectives on text from structuralism to poststructuralism and how they are subsequently accounted for by hypertext theorists to comprehend the emerging genre called hypertext fiction. Some theoretical issues concerning the reading of this genre also will be discussed. The purpose of this study is to illustrate that the radical promises and challenges of digital novels to readers would prove reading and interpretation of conventional texts are far more participatory. This will be accomplished by tracing the evolution of poststructuralists’ concepts of intertextuality, multivocality, decentering, multilinearity, disorientation, and interactivity to find a way out of constant notions of conventional principles of reading.
Highlights
Print stays itself; electronic text replaces itself
If with the book we are always printing—always opening another text unreasonably composed of the same gestures—with electronic text we are always painting, each screen unreasonably washing away what was and replacing it with itself
The first sentence in both statements above is perhaps one of Joyce’s favorite lines as he keeps repeating it in two of his books discussing the issues of hypertext technology
Summary
The first sentence in both statements above is perhaps one of Joyce’s favorite lines as he keeps repeating it in two of his books discussing the issues of hypertext technology. The author of the widely examined hyperfiction Afternoon: A Story, Joyce’s book provides us an understanding of the communication technologies that are constantly evolving in the network cultures and offers us a view of how the medium of print and the computer work distinctively in its own affordances. The two statements as well inform us of several historical occasions of the movement from one theoretical position to another that has been taking place since the inception of new media technologies—the cultural and technological shift from modern to postmodern, analogue to digital, text to hypertext, and one of which this article intends to inquire, fiction to hyperfiction. What follow are some discussions that are excitedly stirred by these movements
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
