Hypertext

Books, plays, poems, and literature of all kinds commonly refer to what has come before it. These references can sometimes be missed without prior knowledge by the reader. The intertextuality in writing is made more apparent and present with the use of hypertext.

The concept of hypertext is prevalently on the internet in an integral way. The internet without it would be a very different place. Hypertext has the ability to make connections not automatically apparent as well as link together corresponding ideas. These connections create an environment that is focused on the reader supplying many different avenues of exploration.

                Hypertext gives the reader an opportunity to focus on something in a larger scale than before. Literature can now be accessed and analyzed in relation to other things, opposed to being worked with on a more individual basis. This option does not necessarily dictate that the reader has to think about the work in a broader sense, but the ability is always there. Intertextuality…shifts attention from the triad constituted by author/work/tradition to another constituted by text/discourse/culture (Landow 35). Connections among texts break away from the idea that texts exist discreetly. Linking also creates multiple contexts and interpretations that create multivocality.  “hypertext does not permit a tyrannical, univocal voice. Rather the voice is always that distilled from the combined experience of the momentary focus, the lexia one presently reads, and the continually forming narrative of one’s reading path” (Landow 36).

                Hypertext also has the capacity to “decenter and recenter” the reader. Anyone that uses the internet can relate to this idea. Wikipedia does this to me frequently. After Googling something I need some quick information on and clicking on the Wikipedia entry I have clicked onto three other entries and am now reading something that has very little to do with my original inquiry. It serves as an interesting rabbit hole for procrastination and trivia sometimes.  Hypertext can derail a train of thought and then a few sentences later start another one. This puts a lot of power and responsibility on the reader to maintain focus. This also creates an environment where the search is spurred by the reader individual pursuit, which means that every reader can potentially come away from a topic with a different understanding.

                One of the most interesting effects hypertext has on understanding is that it creates numerous entry points within a subject. An article about bread making is going to have a lot of pieces of information and facts. It may include a recipe, ingredients, and maybe a brief history of bread making during a certain point in history. All of the elements are possibly entry points for readers. The reason a reader happens upon a story could make a difference to how they interpret the story.  Someone interested in the history can have a very different reason or view from someone looking for a recipe or someone with a gluten allergy.