Essay 1: Disorientation – The Confused Reader

The network structure of hyperfiction is like a labyrinth to the reader not equipped with a map of the website. Links are critical junction points where I have to decide whether to turn north-north-east or south-south-west, to go on or to retrace my steps. In reading hyperfiction, the reader can easily grow frustrated and disoriented as s/he encounters dead ends, wrong turnings and false trails or if s/he ends up somewhere s/he does not wish to go without an overview of the structure of the labyrinth.

Furthermore, in this labyrinth, paths are not only varied but seem to go on forever. With a print text, a reader can gauge how far before the end is reached. With hyperfiction, unless the author provides a list of all the pages in a work index, the reader has no way of judging if the end of a reading path is near. Furthermore, if the author provides external links, the labyrinth of the hyperfiction is transformed into an even bigger maze of the World Wide Web.

Much of this sense of disorientation is caused by the structure of the hyperfiction. Hyperlinks are a double-edged tool where while it potentially liberates readers with the freedom of choice, it can also imprison the reader in the turnings of the labyrinth.

Key:
Green fonts
mark internal links to other parts of the essay.
Green highlights
mark links to footnotes or bibliography.
Peach highlights mark external links.
All followed hyperlinks will have blue fonts.


The experience of reading hyperfiction by
Abel
Serene
Frankie
Yu Ming
Marcia

Home Assignment Index Creative Tutorial Web Lecturer's Web Email