Hypermedia and Literary Studies

Consider a work from Shakespeare. Imagine, as you read it, being able to call upinstantly the Elizabethan usage of a particular word, variant texts for any part of the work,critical commentary, historically relevant facts, or oral interpretations by different sets ofactors. This is the sort of richly interconnected, immediately accessible literary universe that canbe created by hypertext (electronically linked texts) and hypermedia (the extension of linkages tovisual and aural...
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Consider a work from Shakespeare. Imagine, as you read it, being able to call upinstantly the Elizabethan usage of a particular word, variant texts for any part of the work,critical commentary, historically relevant facts, or oral interpretations by different sets ofactors. This is the sort of richly interconnected, immediately accessible literary universe that canbe created by hypertext (electronically linked texts) and hypermedia (the extension of linkages tovisual and aural material).The essays in Hypermedia and Literary Studies discuss the theoretical andpractical opportunities and challenges posed by the convergence of hypermedia systems andtraditional written texts. They range from the theory and design of literary hypermedia to reportsof actual hypermedia projects from secondary school to university and from educational and scholarlyto creative applications in poetry and fiction.George P. Landow is Professor of English and Art atBrown University. Paul Delany is Professor of English at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia,Canada.Contents. Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Literary Studies. Theory. Reading and Writing theElectronic Book. From Electronic Books to Electronic Libraries: Revisiting "Reading and Writing theElectronic Book." The Rhetoric of Hypermedia: Some Rules for Authors. Topographic Writing: Hypertextand the Electronic Writing Space. Reading from the Map: Metonymy and Metaphor in the Fiction of"Forking Paths." Poem Descending a Staircase: Hypertext and the Simultaneity of Experience. ReadingHypertext: Order and Coherence in a New Medium. Threnody: Psychoanalytic Digressions on the Subjectof Hypertexts. Applications. Biblical Studies and Hypertext. Ancient Materials, Modern Media:Shaping the Study of Classics with Hypertext. Linking Together Books: Adapting Published Materialinto Intermedia Documents. The Shakespeare Project. The Emblematic Hyperbook. HyperCard Stacks forFielding's Joseph Andrews: Issues of Design and Content. Hypertext for the PC: The Rubén DarioProject. Hypermedia in Schools.