November 4, 2012

Organization Station

"Hypertext, in other words, provides an infinitely recenterable system who provisional point of focus depends upon the reader, who become a truly active reader in yet another sense. One of the fundamental characterists of hypertext is that is composed of bodies of linked texts that have no primary axis of organization." (36)

When I was younger, I was always that organization leads to a fully functional life however as I grew older, I became a fan of organized chaos so to speak. From the inside looking out, I could probably never explain it however from the outside looking in, someone else could never understand it. Regardless, this is what came to mind while I was reading George Landow's "Hypertext and Critical Theory." The paragraph quoted above really did not settle to well with me. While I live a hectic life, I feel that novels, books and article (especailly educational ones) have a set organization to them and when that organization gets thrown out the window, it is confusing. Yet above, Landow explains that hypertext does not really seem to have a set form or "axis of organization."

I explained in earlier blog posts that I did not enjoy the hypertext we read simply because it felt disheveled and all over the place however reading this article maybe that was the purpose. It was something different and out of the norm, refreshing if you will? Maybe because I am used to the structure of how things are that I am not comfortable in accepting the differences/changes that hypertext provides. I could also see how  hypertext could been seen as a sort of organized chaos however it is difficult to understand from the outside which is the point of a novel, book or article. I'm curious as to how other people felt about the hypertex and the way the author chose to organize her argument.

1 comment:

Victoria said...

I actually disagree with the starting quote. i don't find hypertext disorganized at all. Perhaps it's because I'm familiar with the coding process, and therefore have a better idea of how hypertext is constructed, but to me, hypertext has always been highly organized. When constructing hypertext from scratch, just as much effort goes into it organization as with the mediums of novels, books, or articles, if not more. Perhaps it is only that its ""axis of organization" is more fluid than others and is so much more flexible. Or maybe this is as you say, a perspective of in looking out.

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