Essay 2
Even though the boundary between the author and reader seems to have disappeared in the hypertext system, I do not agree that hypertextual documents are realizations of the writerly text. George P. Landow has written that, “Hypertext is composed of bodies of linked texts that have no primary axis of organization.” (Hypertext and De-centering, George P. Landow) To put it simply, in hypertext, there is no central topic or idea for the reader to follow through. The reader is free to choose his or her own center of investigations and experience. To argue that hypertext is indeed the writerly text, which Barthes describes, people can use the above point to back their argument. This is because it is true that the reader does derive his or her own meaning out of reading hypertext, depending on his or her experience. The reader ‘produces’ his or her own texts in the mind while reading. Different reader will 'produce' different 'mental' texts.
However, we have to remember that the author of the hypertext is the one who has written the text. The author is the only one who has the most intimate knowledge of the text’s materials. The author is the one who carefully plans the structure of the hypertext. “ The author labors to ensure that the best possible effect from the way the printed text’s many strands interweave and its many parts interrelate in the temporal reading experience.” (Whither Leads the Poem of Forking Paths, Robert Kendall) The author is the one who spends huge amount of time, carefully structuring and adding links to the hypertext. The reader does not just create or produce his or her own mental text out of nowhere while reading through the hypertext. The author is the one who plans the ideas and meanings that come into the reader’s head. The author is actually guiding the reader along the text the way the author desires. The author, who is also the reader of his or her own text, anticipates the different interpretations other readers may get while reading the hypertext. From there, the author prepares alternative routes with information that he or she has selected for the reader to read. Furthermore, the reader will only be able to activate the links that the author has provided. If the author does not provide the links, the reader will not have information to create their own meanings and ‘mental’ texts.
