Comments by the Builder:

(Formerly Referred to as an Author's Preface)

This essay is constructed as a hypertext to better explain some concepts surrounding hyper-narrative, the way in which we communicate via an electronic medium and possible implications to our definition of 'self'. I use the term 'constructed' rather than 'written' because it is my experience that a hypertext becomes a complex procedure of construction of which writing is but only a part.

A hypertext does not simply begin at the top left had corner of a sheet of paper and continue in a linear fashion until its completion, but can unfold in any direction that the author and (in most cases) the reader wishes to take it. The hyper-narrative can be a reasonably simple parallel construction with two or more stories developing alongside each other, or it can be a complicated journey involving images, puzzles and multifaceted circular or mosaic designs. Alternatively, if the narrative should link to the World Wide Web for extension, opinion or clarification, it can become extremely diverse and possibly infinite in its dimension.

But, has hypertext changed the way in which narratives are viewed and read on-screen as some theorists claim it has? Is the written text perceived in a different manner than it was prior to the digital revolution? Much has been written concerning hypertext, and the answers to questions of concern posed by the theorists are yet to be realised. The purpose of this essay is to investigate some of these issues.

However, this hyper-narrative will never reach completion. This is because it exists in a digital, electronic format and is archived upon a server. Consequently, it can constantly be updated and added to and the external sites to which it is linked will change, be updated or disappear altogether.

Could this nebulousness, hard-to-define nature of hypernarratives be the real difference between so-called 'standard' texts and their digital equivalents? Is this yet another example of the growing insecurity that human beings face with the growth of techno-culture and the resulting impermanence of our existence? Are the 'hypertheorists' correct when they postulate that hypertext is defining a new self?

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