The oral epic and the web site: a story of convergence

Abstract

PurposeThe paper seeks to illustrate the way in which internet and hyper‐text practices reflect ancient and classical literary practice, both of which differ from linear published manuscripts.Design/methodology approachThe essay traces the shifts and alterations in the transformations from oral text and protonarrative, through manuscripts, printed texts, hyper‐text. It then compares the narrative structures and practices of ancient epics with contemporary web site design.FindingsThe essay argues that the linear printed narrative was a deviation from ancient practices which are being recovered in the use of the web; such that the web is actually a return to more traditional forms.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are the interpretations and mediation of common patterns.Practical implicationsThe essay posits a new continuity of literary history from ancient pre‐writing to contemporary hypertext.Originality/valueHyper‐text and the web have been primarily viewed as a technology which strongly deviates from established communication norms, whereas this essay seeks to initiate discourse through its re‐examination.