Hypertextual Fiction on the Internet: a Structural and Narratological Analysis

Traditional printed texts and hypertexts are not fundamentally different. Actually they have more in common than is commonly assumed, and they thus can be analysed well within the parameters of established categories of literary theory. Against this background it seems striking that a number of theoretical treatises by early hypertext theorists such as Landow, Bolter, or Joyce refer to the revolutionary character of this kind of writing, the amazing technological development that lies behind it, and the almost miraculous convergence of postmodern literary concepts and hypertext. These treatises can be criticised for foregrounding technological innovations to a disproportional extent, while lacking both elaborate theoretical foundation and support from actual close analyses of hypertextual narratives. Especially hypertexts which are published on the internet have not been accounted for in a substantial way. Therefore, the present dissertation aims to provide the necessary theoretical framework for a close literary analysis of hyperfiction on the internet.