Hypertext Fiction

 Hypertext fiction is a form of digital literature with its origins in the late 80s and 90s. It has strong influences from modernism and post modernism as its main characteristic is non-linearity and creating meaning through association. Before actual hyper texts were created, the idea behind them was articulated in a story called "The Garden of Forking Paths," written by Jorge Borges in 1941. In his story, a character writes a novel in which all possible outcomes occur simultaneously creating even more possible outcomes. This concept is repeated infinitely. This abandonment of linearity helps define hypertext fiction. In the late 90s, Michael Joyce created afternoon, a story, in which each hypertext link goes to a different place in the story.   

Hypertext of the Unknown (unknownhypertext.com)

The hypertext fiction I chose was called The Unknown. This is a hypertext novel in which the hypertext itself is a promotional stunt for a novel. The fictional creators of the novel are the main characters who begin touring their work around the country. I liked this hypertext story because of the wide variety of writing styles and forms. They emulate authors like Cormac McCarthy who is one of my favorites. It is very interesting and plays with postmodernist takes on writing by having the authors be characters in the story. At one point, the authors and their characters meet.