HYPERTEXT & INTERTEXT
HYPERTEXT
Hypertext is a non-linear way to present information and is usually accomplished using “links”.
Such links help the readers navigate further information about the topic being discussed and
may also lead to other links that can direct the readers to various options.
Hypertext also allows the readers to create their meaning out of the material given to them and
learn better associatively.
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references to
other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by
hyperlinks, which are typically activated by a mouse click, keypress set or by touching the
screen. Rather than remaining static like traditional text, hypertext makes possible a dynamic
organization of information through links and connections (called hyperlink).
The World Wide Web (www) is a global hypertext system of information residing on servers
linked across the internet.
Hypertext is the foundation of the World Wide Web enabling users to click on the link to obtain
more information on a subsequent page on the same site or from a website anywhere in the
world.
The term hypertext was coined by Ted Nelson in 1963.
Hypertext allows readers to access information particularly suited to their needs. For example,
if a reader still needs more background on a particular item that a text is discussing, such as
when a reader does not know a particular term being used, the reader can choose to highlight
that term and access a page that defines the term and describes it.
Conversely, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed a web address, is a reference
to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for
retrieving it. URLs occur most commonly to reference web pages (http), but are also used for file
transfer (ftp), email (mailto), database access (JDBC), and many other applications.
Most web browsers display the URL of a web page above the page in an address bar. A typical
URL has this form:
Today, links are not just limited to text or documents but may also incorporate other forms of
multimedia such as pictures, sounds and videos that stimulate more senses. This is called
hypermedia.
Why hypertexts?
• In a hypertext system, the reader is free to navigate information by exploring the
connections provided.
• Hypertext is a very different way of presenting information than the usual linear form.
• Text no longer flows in a straight line through a book. Instead, it is broken down into
many smaller units (lexias, to borrow a term from literary criticism), each addressing a few
issues.
It acts as a bridge between two basic, opposite, and complementing elements that
may be called gender of knowledge representation: free and shortcut
INTERTEXT
Intertext or intertextuality is a process of text development that merges two more
processes such as imitation and creation in doing a text. It involves imitation because the author,
as highly influenced by another author comes up with his version of the text consciously or
unconsciously incorporating the style and other characteristics of the text done by that author.
Intertextuality is said to take place using four specific methods namely: retelling, pastiche,
quotation, and allusion.