Hypertext is the emerging literature of the World
Wide Web. Experimental hypertext novels create linked narratives
with no beginnings or ends, literary mazes that can never be read twice
in the same way. The possibilities of hypertext composition challenge
established notions of literary form, leading critics to argue about how
hypertext will transform research, editing, models of reading and writing,
and the nature of literacy itself. Novelists and film makers attempt
to imagine the future of a wired society, while corporate culture strives
to cash in on the World Wide Web.
In this course, we will explore emerging forms of hypertext through readings of cyberpunk fiction; novels about the boundary between human and artificial life; movies that use cyborgs and virtual reality to speculate about the role of technology in society; hypertext fictions, both on the web and on CD-ROM; critical theory about the future of electronic writing, the definition of cyberspace, and the future of literature in an age of hypertext.
No computer expertise is required. Although there
will be frequent assignments requiring access to the World Wide Web, the
techniques for using the net will be explained for those who have no previous
experience. Students will construct their own web pages, and all
writing assignments will be turned in online. Computer illiterates
and beginners are encouraged to sign on.
Much of the reading for this course will be online. Students
will need to order two books from an online bookseller and a CD-Rom disk from
Eastgate Systems. Please click on the links below to order these three
texts.
Jay Clayton |
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