The essays listed here either discuss a number of works or
generally discuss theory and technique. Criticism about a
particular piece of fiction is listed under the citation for the
work in question. While the focus is mainly on hypertext fiction, I occasionally list works on related topes of interest. In addition, for certain writers garnering a lot of attention and/or writing in a variety of genres I'm beginning to develop annotated bibliographies
Critical literature about hypertext fiction
- Becker, Howard S. "A New Art Form: Hypertext Fiction"
- Becker discusses hypertext fiction in terms of his concept of "art worlds"--briefly, the network of people necessary to the successful creation, publication, distribution, marketing, and criticism of any art form. A concise presentation of an expansive idea. Recommended reading. (4/16/96)
- Bolter,
Jay David.
- "Degrees of Freedom" (1996).
- A new essay to be part of a book in progress. Like his earlier work (see below), written in the lucid style that quietly says one mind-altering thing after another. Discusses electronic media in terms of the "hypertextual" and the "virtual," which roughly equate to Richard Lanham's dichotomy of looking at/looking through art. A new required text for anyone with more than a passing interest in this field (10/7/96).
- Writing
Space: the Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991)
- Chances are that if you've made it here to read these words
you're already familiar with this book. If not, get familiar.
Bolter, one of the co-creators of Storyspace, is perhaps overly
optimistic about hypertext (his own work being a case in point--the
book is wonderfully useful, but the Storyspace version is
annoyingly hard to use), but no problem--the book is an excellent
introduction to hypertext, placing it in the context of the history
of writing and publishing. Even if you've not interested in
hypertext, it's still an excellent guide to the history of the
printed word (what else would you expect from a Carolina grad--Go
'Heels!). Here are a brief review by George Landow, and ordering
information from Eastgate Systems (
![[UPDATED]](updated.gif)
7/25/97: Landow links updated).
- Coover, Robert.
- "The End of Books." New York Times Book
Review (June 21, 1992), p.1.
- The article that introduced me (and I suspect a lot of others)
to hypertext fiction. Still worth a look, especially for those
just approaching the subject. Coover describes the development of
the Hypertext Hotel, the use
of Storyspace, and a host of things that I found intriguing, but others found kinda scary.
(7/8/95)
- "Hyperfiction: Novels for the Computer," New York Times Book Review, August 29, 1993, p.1.
- This lengthier follow-up to the article cited above could be said to do for Eastgate's hyperfiction what Carolyn Guyer's "Written on the Web" does for Web-based hyperfiction: provide the best capsule reviews available in one place. It particularly focuses on Moulthrop's Victory Garden, which had just been published at the time of the article, but also has incisive comments on afternoon, "Quibbling", "The Perfect Couple", "The King of Space", "WOE", Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse, and "Its Name Was Penelope." The reviews have the merit of dispensing praise where due--without hyperbole--and at the same time pointing out bad writing or just plain silliness. Accompanied by a brief article on hypermedia with the (editorially-assigned, I'd guess) title, "And Hypertext is Only the Beginning: Watch Out!", which is a little dated at this point.The main article provides a great antidote to both the mindless chatter of mainstream press responses to hypertext fiction and to some of the more overblown blurbs Eastgate tends to quote. (4/18/96)
- Deemer, Charles.
- "The Humanities in Cyberspace: How the
Internet is Changing Teaching and Scholarship in the Humanities." (first published in The Oregonian, 1994).
- A review of several hyperfictions, including Victory Garden.
- "What is
Hypertext?", 1994.
- Deemer discusses how he discovered hypertext and covers its
history briefly, particularly focussing on Vannevar Bush's "As We May
Think."
- Fauth, Jurgen
, "Poles
in Your Face: The Promises and Pitfalls of Hyperfiction." (Mississipi
Review Web, September, 1995, Vol 1, No. 6)
- Fairly enough, Fauth finds most hypertext fiction currently on
the World Wide Web unsatisfactory and of little artistic merit. He
contends--again fairly, I think--that too much energy is expended
on exploring the new toy, the hyperlink, to the detriment of
traditional aspects of good fiction writing. But the title
metaphor leads him astray--it refers to the brief 3-D movie fad of
the 1950s and their makers' tendencies to keep thrusting objects at
the viewer to show off the new effect. This, Fauth says, is like
the link--i.e., hypertext is just a new feature tacked onto print
prose. The analogy fails because hypertext is not a new feature of
print prose, but rather an entirely new medium. While it's unfair
to criticize a piece for what's not there, I think Fauth would have
done better to explore another analogy the motion picture reference
brings to mind: namely that the development of hypertext bears
some similarities to the development of film. A better comparison
to the link is the cut (or the splice, depending on how you want to
think of it). Like the cut, the link is one feature of a new
medium that allows juxtapositions previously difficult if not
impossible--and, unlike 3-D glasses, it is an essential component
of the medium, not a gimmicky afterthought. Though it is unclear just what specific hyperfictions Fauth has read, the essay is
worth reading, whether to confirm doubts or provoke disagreement.
(11/13/95 12/1/96. Links corrected.).
- Guyer, Carolyn
- "Along the
Estuary" (1/3/97).
- "Buzz-daze Jazz" (1/3/97).
- An essay on creativity and her hypertext fiction, "Quibbling."
- Fretwork: ReForming Me" (1/3/97).
- "Written on
the Web."
- A concise, thoughtful summary of Web hypertext fiction to date
(published online in FEED, September,
1995). Guyer astutely points out that much of what Web fiction
seems to lack stems directly from the constraints of the tools
available to writers (i.e., HTML and the various browsers). She
also notes that writers often seem to know little of all the work
on hypertext that took place before the Web explosion. Especially
valuable is her
annotated bibliography of the best of current hypertext fiction on
the Web (10/6/95).
- Hocks, Mary, "Hypertext survey results."
- A survey of hypertext writers and readers conducted via e-mail
in the fall of 1993. About hypertext writing in general, though
the text and survey results tend to focus on hyperfiction. Among
other comments of interest here, I noticed that there was frequent
mention of Storyspace, but none of HTML (note the date). It appears to have been preparatory work for Hocks's 1994
dissertation, Technotropes of Liberation: Reading Hypertext in
the Age of Theory (University of Illinois). Clarification on
this point would be appreciated. Contact UMI to
order the dissertation (order #9512396) (rev. 12/1/95)
- Hyper/Text/Theory
(Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994). Ed: George P. Landow
- A valuable collection of essays by such writers as Stuart
Moulthrop, J. Yellowlees Douglas, Landow, and others. See
particularly Douglas's essay on reading Michael Joyce. Ordering
information is available from Eastgate
Systems or JHU
Press.
![[NEW]](new.gif)
Johnson, Jeffrey, and Maurizio Oliva. "Internet Textuality: Toward Interactive Multilinear Narrative."
- An essay on the effect of technology--specifically the Internet--on the construction of narratives that briefly discusses several Web hypertext fictions, including Douglas Cooper's Delirium, Stuart Moulthrop's "Hegirascope," Jim Clarage's "Click Me," The Confessional, No Dead Trees, and WaxWeb (4/20/97).
- Joyce, Michael. Of Two Minds:
Hypertext Pedagogy and Poetics (U. of Mich. Press, 1995).
- This collection of essays written over the past eight years or
so is a must for anyone studying hypertext fiction. See the Joyce bibliography for more information.
(9/20/95)
- Keep, C.J., Tim McLaughlin and Robin. The
Electronic Labyrinth
- A general survey of the
history of hypertext; discusses some recent hypertext fiction
including Afternoon
and Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse (available on disk from Eastgate). Originally researched in
1993, it is, as the authors seem aware, a little dated because it
does not take the Web into account, but is nevertheless quite
informative. Also available for downloading in the original version
to be read via Windows Help. (11/30/95)
- Kendall, Robert.
"Writing For the New Millenium: The Birth of Electronic
Literature."
- Like Michael Joyce in "What I
Really Wanted to Do I Thought" and Charles Deemer in "What is Hypertext?", Kendall recounts how
his writing interests led him to discover hypermedia and its
developing community. He then goes on to give a concise summary of
current trends in hypertext writing and provides a couple of very
useful lists: publishers of hypertexts and other online and
multimedia literature; and current and upcoming classes on
hypertext literature. ( 2/10/97: URL's corrected to Kendall's new home page)
- Landow, George P., Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary
Critical Theory and Technology (Johns Hopkins University
Press, c1992).
- Excellent but, like Bolter, prone to looking more at
hypertext's pleasures than its drawbacks. A review by Nancy Lin, "Hypertext and Democracy for the Reader?", used to be available online, but has disappeared. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who locates it. Also see David Miall's essay cited below. The Table of Contents
is available, as well as ordering information from Eastgate
Systems or JHU Press ( 7/25/97: Landow links updated).
- Miall, David S. "Representing and Interpreting Literature by Computer."
- While not directly about hypertext fiction, this essay discusses much of interest about hypertext and literature, particularly George Landow's writings. (12/1/96. Note: Miall's home page uses frames; following the title link avoids the frame structure)
- Oliva, Maurizio.
- See Johnson, Jeffrey
- Paul, Christiane.
"Reading/Writing Hyperfictions: The Psychodrama of Interactivity."
In Leonardo, vol. 28, no. 4, August 1995, pp. 265-272.
- Well-written article arguing that hyperfiction breaks down the
boundaries between reader and text and causes readers not to
perceive hyperfiction as an "otherness." I happen to disagree, as
my personal experience is that hyperfiction seems more "other" than
print because, unlike print, it depends on a technology that has
not been made almost invisible as technology by five centuries of
acculturation. This is not, however, an argument against the value
of the article--it's well worth the time. Discusses several
Eastgate hyperfictions, particularly J. Yellowlees Douglas's "I Have Said Nothing." Abstract and ordering information available. Interesting
side issue: why is an article about fiction one reads on a
computer not, well, readable on a computer at Leonardo's
web site? Possibly related to the $15 price tag on the print
version. Paul is Editor in Chief of Intelligent Agent, to which a visit is very much in order. ( 2/10/97)
- Poster, Mark. "Postmodern Virtualities."
- A chapter of Poster's The Second Media Age (1995). Section IV discusses "Narratives in Cyberspace" in terms of Lyotard's analysis of the postmodern (10/7/96).
- Rees, Gareth, "Tree
fiction", September, 1994.
- A useful essay discussing the possibilities and potential problems of branching fictions.
- Shumate, Michael
- "Tracing the Growth of a New Literature." In Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, Volume 3, Number 12, December 1, 1996.
- A brief history of my development of the Hyperizons Web site and a review of several Web hypertext fictions that debuted in 1996. Part of CMC's special issue on "Imagination and Hypertext" (12/1/96)
- "Writing Lives: Technology, Creativity, and Hypertext Fiction."
- My masters thesis (Duke University, 1996). I'm disinclined for the moment to rephrase once again what this is about, so here's the abstract (12/1/96).
- Swiss, Thomas. "Music and Noise: Marketing Hypertexts." In Postmodern Culture, Volume 7, Number 1 (September, 1996).
- A review of Eastgate Systems' role(s) in the world of hypertext literature (10/7/96).
Critical literature of interest on related topics
Works I list here are not specifically about hypertext fiction, but essays and books about such topics as literature and technology, new media, and other nearby fields of interest. I don't actively seek these out to add to Hyperizons but find them along the way.
- Kirschenbaum, Matthew G. "Lines for a Virtual T/y/o/pography"
- Kirschenbaum's hypertextual dissertation-in-progress about "visible and visual convergence of information and aesthetics in both print and electronic medias." (12/1/96).
- Lanham, Richard. The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
- For some reason, this book always gets paired in my mind with Bolter's Writing Space, not least because I've seen them reviewed together at least twice. A collection of (mostly) previously published essays rather than a single work, The Electronic Word would perhaps make a better starting point than Bolter for someone just beginning to explore the ramifications of new media for the artistic and scholarly worlds. This is not to say Lanham's book is less intellectually satisfying than Bolter's but just that it has a more general approach. His discussion of looking "at" art vs. looking "through" it is particularly enlightening. Also available in an electronic edition, which I have not seen. Like Writing Space, this book is generating a lot of critical response. Here are a couple of interesting things online:
(4/18/96)
Annotated bibliographies of individual writers
home and elsewhere ...
Last update: July 25, 1997
© 1995, 1996, 1997 by Michael Shumate
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