Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology

Abstract

George Landow's Hypertext brought together the worlds of literary theory and computer technology to explore the implications of giving readers instant, easy access to a virtual library of sources as well as unprecedented control of what and how they read. In hypermedia, Landow saw a strikingly literal embodiment of many major points of contemporary literary theory, particularly Derrida's idea of de-centring and Barthe's conception of the readerly versus writerly text. In this second edition, Landow shifts the focus from Intermedia to Microcosm, Storyspace and the World Wide Web. He offers new, specific information about kinds of hypertext, different modes of linking, attitudes towards technology, and the proliferation of pornography on the Internet. He also comments extensively on the rhetoric and style of writing in and with hypermedia.