Beyond Codexspace: Potentialities of Literary Cybertext
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Description (in English):
First written and published in 1996, the unrevised form of this essay now comes across, in
certain respects, as ancient history – a function of the notorious acceleration of cultural and
media development since the explosive growth of the Web after 1994. And yet, it chiefly
describes a productive engagement with writing in programmable and, latterly, networked
media which dates back, in my own case, to the late 1970s, an all-too-human, rather than
silicon-enhanced, historical context.
(Source: Author's Introduction)
Pull Quotes:
My cybertextual compositions are literary. They are designed to be published on computer-controlled systems linked to their now familiar peripherals. First and foremost, these pieces are designed to be visually scanned on screen, silently read and interacted with through keyboard and pointing device. They subscribe to the notion of written language as a distinct, quasi-independent system of signification and meaning-creation. Its relationship to spoken language is structured but indeterminate as to detail, and is subject to continual contestation, depending on the nature and function of the language being created. (107)