Computers, Writing, Rhetoric and Literature
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Why Hypertext?
What is a hypertext? Like obscenity, it is hard to define, but we
all seem to know it when we see it. John Lavagnino offers a simple working solution:
"A hypertext system is one in which links may be specified between different places
in the text."[1] Whereas books do offer a
primitive sort of linking process (in that notes in the text may refer to footnotes,
which may refer the reader to further texts), a computer-based system, which is what we are interested in for the purposes of this inquiry, takes the reader or user directly to the linked material, or, if you prefer, brings the linked material to the reader. The importance of this simple mechanical feature cannot be overestimated.
A second major feature of a hypertext system is that the universe of the hypertext is, in theory, infinitely expandable and, in practice, far more inclusive and comprehensive than the universe of a printed text. Indeed, hypertext makes manifest in a very practical way Barthes' theoretical distinction between a work and a text. While a printed version of a text is often limited to the work (or a version of the work) and some textual commentaries, a hypertext can encompass much more of the full field of commentaries, associations, textual variants, reading experiences, etc. that make up, for Barthes, the complete text.[2]
To this we may add a third feature of a hypertext system: its purpose. "To function in a 'hyper' mode,"
says Jerome McGann, "an editing project must use computerization as a means to secure freedom from
the analytic limits of hardcopy."[3] By this definition, a hypertext
is not simply a fancy version of a print document, but is a document of a different order, where the opportunities offered by the medium are fully considered and explored. This is more a dictum than an inherent feature, of course, but one that must lie at the back of any hypertext project.
This inquiry will be concerned mainly with the problems of hypertextualizing complex printed texts.
Hypertextualization includes not only the simple mark-up of printed versions of textual works,
but the inclusion of all other elements that, in Barthean terms, make up the textual
field, and that, in lay terms, we have come to expect on any hypertext or good WWW page. For a scholarly hypertext of a printed work, we would expect to see some sort of annotations, live footnotes, links to critical works, treatment of textual variations, biographical material on the author, etc. Indeed, the inclusion of almost any material related to the original work or text should not surprise us. Thus, a hypertext on Heart of Darkness might include a list of pop songs that make reference to the text, or a hypertext on Ulysses might include instructions for preparing fried kidneys.
Of course, the near-infinite capacity for inclusion is at once the main strength and weakness of hypertext systems.
Just as critics have argued that the invention of the long playing album reduced the quality of pop songs,
which were no longer limited to 2-3 minutes in length, and that the invention of compact discs, with room
for 75 minutes of music, spelled disaster for record albums, whose shorter capacity necessitated greater editing,
so it goes that the unrestrained amount of data in a hypertext could result in sloppy packaging of product.
One only needs to look at a representative sample of individual web pages, with their vast lists of seemingly
unrelated links and photos of the family dog and car, to see that the potential for babble is unlimited.
In terms of textual scholarship, however, any potential for abuse of the medium simply mirrors problems that
existed before the availability of hypertext. Notes Lavagnino: "What we have for many modern works is not a
shortage of reliable information, but an excess: often there is far too much textual information to include
in any printed edition. We find, for example, cases in which a writer made extensive revisions over a span
of many years, so that there may be a number of versions that were all produced by the same person and that
all have good claims to our attention; but which one should be the text that a scholarly edition prints?"
[4] Thus we have the potential to deal with variants in new and exciting ways, but the problems of which variations to include and how to treat their correspondences and differences remains.
There are many advantages to doing hypertextual scholarship.
Cost is less of a factor, especially for the reproduction of color images. Hypertexts are open systems. A hypertext can be updated and edited cheaply and indefinitely. Users can make their own additions to a hypertext. Indeed, as noted above, there are few limits to the amount of linked and or included material that can be included in a hypertext.
Yet creating a hypertext document is not easy. Hypertexts are extremely labor-intensive. Far fewer people know
how to use hypertexts than know how to read. The conventions for writing, reading, and producing print scholarship are
well-established; the analogous conventions for hypermedia are still fluid. Then there are the technical limits of the medium. For example, there is often a conflict between readability and usability. The fewer links or interruptions a text has, the easier it is to read. Increasing links and interruptions may add functionality to a document, but decrease its readability. Adding color images and sound can greatly enhance a document, but at the expense of downloading and accessing time.
In practice, nearly all hypertext projects are experiments in defining a genre. Both the structure and the content of a project reveal the creator's assumptions as to what the useful functions of hypertext are. The various pages in this site will consider the strengths and weakness of various approaches to creating hypertexts, in an attempt to identify some of the challenges of the medium.
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Notes
[1] John Lavagnino, "Reading, Scholarship, and Hypertext Editions." (http://www.stg.brown.edu/resources/stg/monographs/rshe.html) No posting or update date given.
[2] Roland Barthes, "From Work to Text," in Textual Strategies: Perspectives in Post-Structuralist Criticism, ed. Josue V. Harrai (Cornell: Ithaca, 1977), 73-81.
[3] Jerome McGann, "The Rationale of Hypertext." (http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/public/jjm2f/rationale.html) No posting or update date given.
[4] Lavagnino.