Alan Liu, English 236 (Hyperliterature) Schedule

Schedule of Readings

South Hall 2635, Tue. 2-4:30; Office Hours,SH 2521, Wed. 2-3
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= Reader

= Assignment Due

= Supplementary Links

CLASS 1:
Sept. 26

Introduction: How to Read a Pop-Up Book

The Wonderful World of Pop-Up and Movable Books, 1811-1996 (exhibit at U. North Texas Library, 1997-98)
The Pop-Up World of Ann Montanaro (Rutgers U. Library exhibit)

Ann Montanaro, "A Concise History of Pop-up and Moveable Books"

Fill out the online course entrance questionnaire asap (required).

Buy required books at UCSB Bookstore & reader at Alternative Copy Shop.

Purchase required works of hyperliterature on diskette or CD-ROM through online vendors.

CLASS 2:
Oct. 3

What is Hypertext Literature?

Roland Barthes, S/Z, pp., 221-54, 3-33
Mark Amerika, Grammatron
Write <300 words in any format or medium on your response to Grammatron
George P. Landow, "What's a Critic to Do? Critical Theory in the Age of Hypertext," pp. 32-40 in Hyper/Text/Theory

Carolyn Guertin, Queen Bees and the Hum of the Hive

Be prepared to choose a class in which to be a hyperliterature guide. See Assignments for more details.

CLASS 3:
Oct. 10

Encountering the Mechanism

William Gibson, Agrippa (A Book of the Dead (1992)
Barry Smylie and Alan Sondheim, Sailing
Deena Larsen, Bubbles
Stuart Moulthrop, Reagan's Library
Beyond Interface: Net Art and Art on the Net (browse this online exhibition for experimental interfaces)
Write or draw a short expression in any format or medium other than in a word-processor document on your response to one of the interfaces in the above works
John Updike, "Books Unbound, Life Unraveled," orig. pub. in New York Times, Op-Ed Week in Review Section, 18 June 2000: 15
Friedrich A. Kittler, Discourse Networks, 1800/1900 (1985), pp. xii-xviii from David Wellbury's "Foreword" and pp. 206-229 from "The Great Lalula"
Espen J. Aarseth, Cybertext, chap. 1 (this chapter also available online)

Ted Nelson on "Link Types" (excerpt from his Literary Machines, 1981)

CLASS 4:
Oct. 17

(Project Workshop)

Students should come prepared with some initial ideas for what they might want to do for a hypertext project (see Assignments for more details). No ideas need to be definitive at this time. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss ideas and then to offer initial technical guidance and an introduction to the Transcriptions studio. There will also be an additional, hands-on technical workshop in the studio on a date TBA. The instructor will schedule individual conferences with students working on a project as the quarter proceeds. (See the Course Technology page for more information on technical resources and assistance for the project)

CLASS 5:
Oct. 24

Telling Stories I

Michael Joyce, afternoon, a story (1986) (purchase from Eastgate)
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (1980), pp. 3-38

Gunnar Liestol, "Wittgenstein, Genette, and the Reader's Narrative in Hypertext" (1994), in 89-118 in Hyper/Text/Theory

Student Guide for this class: Robert Adlington

Unless you have already done so, open a UWeb account by this date so you have Web space for your hypertext project. (See UWeb on Course Technology page)

CLASS 6:
Oct. 31

Telling Stories II

Shelley Jackson, Patchwork Girl (1996) (purchase from Eastgate)
Espen J. Aarseth, Cybertext, pp. 76-96

J. Yellowlees Douglas, " 'How Do I Stop This Thing?': Closure and Indeterminacy in Interactive Narratives" (1994), pp. 159-85 in Hyper/Text/Theory

Student Guide for this class: Carly Andrews

CLASS 7:
Nov. 7

Telling Stories III

Read a work of hyperliterature not on the course syllabus. For annotated guides and bibliographies of works to choose from, see Transcriptions Annotated Guide to Hypertext Literature (esp. for Eastgate publications available for one user at a time in the Transcriptions studio) as well as the other the General Resources in the supplementary materials for this course.
Be prepared to report on your own hypertext work in progress (showing the concept, plan, or demonstration pages) and to reflect on how your work responds to some issue or work you have encountered so far

Espen J. Aarseth, Cybertext, pp. 58-75

Student Guide for this class: Jeremy Douglass

CLASS 8:
Nov. 14

Telling Stories IV

M.D. Coverley (Marjorie C. Luesebrink), Califia (2000) (purchase from Eastgate)

Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck (1999), pp. 126-82

Student Guide for this class: Elizabeth Freudenthal

CLASS 9:
Nov. 21

The Environment Paradigm

Rand and Robyn Miller, Riven (purchase a copy or play one of the copies on the machines in the Transcriptions studio)
Michael Joyce and Carolyn Guyer, Lasting Image (2000)
Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991), pp. 38-45, 107-29
Karen Steigman, "Hypertext and Spatial Consciousness" (1999)

Raine Koskimaa, "Visual Structuring of Hypertext Fiction" (1997/98)

Student Guide for this class: Christien Hoffpauir

CLASS 10:
Nov. 28

The Subject of Hypertext

Ed Falco, Self Portrait With Father (1999)
Olia Lialina, My Boyfriend Came Back From the War (1996)
William Gibson, Agrippa (A Book of the Dead (1992) (reread)
William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" (1798)
Fredric Jameson, "Postmodernism and Consumer Society" (1982)

Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck (1999), pp. 280-84

Student Guide for this class: Mary Ma

CLASS 11:
Dec. 5

(Project Performances)

Presentation of student hypertext projects.

Final essay due Dec. 11th

Thanks to Marjorie Luesebrink, Rita Raley, and Stuart Moulthrop, who consulted on works to include in this course.
This page is part of the Transcriptions Project
Page content by Alan Liu | Graphic design by Eric Feay
(revised 3/20/01 )