Hypertext Fiction - Cameron W

 Hypertext Fiction

I was extremely fascinated by glimpses into different works of hypertext fiction throughout this chapter. Specifically, I loved the ones that involved the ability to follow different perspectives/characters, which feels more true to life than stories that follow only one (main) character. An example of this, within the chapter, is Judy Malloy’s, Uncle Roger. I especially enjoyed this line about it, “‘As at any party, the reader may see some occurrences but not others; may meet some of the people but not others. As at any big party, neither the narrator, nor the reader understands every observed action’ (Malloy, 2015),” (69). I was also curious about why there is currently less new work being made in this area than in other areas of electronic literature. I think that the branching path narratives are my favorite part of hypertext fiction and I’d really like to further explore them in my free time. I previously knew nothing about how HTML was hypertext and I felt like I learned a lot about how it transformed technology and the organization of the Web. I liked William Gillespie’s explanation of hypertext which reads, “Hypertext, to put it clearly, is a mapping of a text onto a four-dimensional ‘space,’” (83). 


Excerpt from Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson’s book, Sexing the Cherry, was published in 1989 and is set in London in the 17th century. Chapter three of Electronic Literature explains that this book, “reconstructs elements of Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and subverts classic fairy tales and stories from the Bible,” (60). It follows a woman called Dog-Woman and a man named Jordan who is maybe her son but other websites simply refer to him as her protégé. It seems very whimsical from what I read and it also seems to not exist in a linear timeline. It also seems to focus on imagination as well as real life which can be seen in this line from the excerpt that I linked above, “Occasionally, in company, someone would snap their fingers in front of my face and ask, 'Where are you?' For a long time I had no idea, but gradually I began to find evidence of the other life and gradually it appeared before me.” I really like how imaginative the writing feels, the author uses great diction that transports you into an impossible world. I am glad that I chose this book to bring to the table as it was a very interesting discovery for me.

Comments

  1. Abby T.February 12, 2023 at 11:49 AM

    I actually read some excerpts from Sexing the Cherry for one of my Brit Lit classes last semester, and I also realy liked what she wrote! The library has a copy, if you're interested :)

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    Replies
    1. Dr. MFebruary 12, 2023 at 3:14 PM

      Love Winterson! Oranges are Not the Only Fruit is wonderful and autobiographical and her memoir, Why be Happy When You Could be Normal is AMAZING (same story but without the magical realism)!

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