November 4, 2012

Hypertext similar to Genre?

On page 35 towards the bottom, Landow makes a distinction between explicit and implicit hypertext. Explicit, he claims, is unintrusive and lets the reader make educated perceptions based on what is not said. Do you think this is just another way of saying that this is intertexuality? Is there really a distinction between forms of hypertext, or is hypertext all the same, and these theorists are just nit-picking and looking for things to pull apart?

Also, with the distinction between various forms of hypertextuality, does this create a new form of genre? On page 36 Landow says, "Hypertext, in other words, provides an infinitely recenterable system whose provisional point of focus depends upon the reader, who becomes a truly active reader in yet another sense." It almost seems as though he is claiming that because the origin of what is being read constantly changes depending upon the reader, he is saying that the reader is who and what creates the new genre. Based on what Miller had to say about the creation of genre, and how societies constantly feel the need to categorize, what do you think she would have to say about Landow's claim about hypertextuality and centering? Landow also says on page 40 that hypertext is similar to rhizomes in that it was ins and outs and is constantly developing. In this way, I think it means that he really is saying that hypertext is a method of creating genre.

Kari K

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