Hypertext was going to revolutionize the very way in which we read and write. However, while hypertext's non-linearity has been embraced by enthusiasts keen to experiment with interactive literary genres, to date, the non-linear medium has made little impact on scholarly discourse and argumentation, which have traditionally heavily relied on linearity. Is this because hypertextual narrative is simply incompatible with the requirements of certain genres? Or could it be that hypertext's essential characteristics have yet to be fully understood and exploited? Cinematic Hypertext is for theorists and designers ready to consider a new paradigm for framing the medium and its characteristics: film. Clara Mancini guides the reader through an eclectic mix of ideas from technology, psycholinguistics, visual design, narratology and film theory. En route, Cinematic Hypertext offers an intellectual workout for media theorists and coherence relations scholars, with analyses of cinematic grammars, film clips, hypertexts, and hypertext systems, grounded in an underlying theory of Cognitive Coherence Relations.Those ready to build experimental systems will find design principles and guidelines, and the evidence reported will be of particular interest to those wondering if the theory behind cinematic hypertext is valid empirically. The result is a novel way of thinking about hypertext which complements existing hypertext paradigms, with Mancini inviting the reader to design hypertexts capable of communicating through a visual language inspired by the power of cinema.

It is a tenet of postmodern writing that the subject—the self—is unstable, fragmented, and decentered. One useful way to examine this principle is to look at how the subject has been treated in various media in the premodern, modern, and postmodern eras. Silvio Gaggi pursues this strategy in From Text to Hypertext, analyzing the issue of subject construction and deconstruction in selected examples of visual art, literature, film, and electronic media. Gaggi concentrates on a few paradigmatic works in each chapter; he contrasts van Eyck's Wedding of Arnolfini with the photography of Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger; examines fiction that centers on an elusive subject in works by Conrad, Faulkner, and Calvino; and explores the ability of such films as Coppola's One from the Heart and Altman's The Player to emancipate the subject through cinematography and editing. In considering electronic media, Gaggi takes his argument to an entirely new level. He focuses on computer-controlled media, specifically examples of hypertextual fiction by Michael Joyce and Stuart Moulthrop. Besides recognizing how the computer has enabled artists to create works of fiction in which readers themselves become decentered, Gaggi also observes the impact of literature created on computer networks, where even the limitations of CD-ROM are lifted and the notion of individual authorship may for all practical purposes be lost.

An acclaimed hypertext novelist's reflections on art and technology, nonlinearity, and the creative process

Thoroughly expanded and updated, this pioneering work continues to be the ur-textof hypertext studies.

Hypertext is now commonplace: links and linking structure nearly all of our experiences online. Yet the literary, as opposed to commercial, potential of hypertext has receded. One of the few tools still focused on hypertext as a means for digital storytelling is Twine, a platform for building choice-driven stories without relying heavily on code. In Twining, Anastasia Salter and Stuart Moulthrop lead readers on a journey at once technical, critical, contextual, and personal. The book’s chapters alternate careful, stepwise discussion of adaptable Twine projects, offer commentary on exemplary Twine works, and discuss Twine’s technological and cultural background. Beyond telling the story of Twine and how to make Twine stories, Twining reflects on the ongoing process of making. "While there have certainly been attempts to study Twine historically and theoretically... no single publication has provided such a detailed account of it. And no publication has even attempted to situate Twine amongst its many different conversations and traditions, something this book does masterfully." —James Brown, Rutgers University, Camden

Reflections and predictions of technology's effect on reading and writing