A Role of Criticism in the Information Age

Richard E. Higgason
Blue River Community College, Blue Springs, Missouri, USA
Email: rich.higgason@kcmetro.edu
Key features: References; Author Details

All the nodes in this issue:

Editorial
Bibliography of Hypertext Criticism

Mez Breeze

Julianne Chatelain Richard E. Higgason Deena Larsen Bill Marsh Adrian Miles Jenny Weight

One of the functions that such scholarly discussions perform is to point out works of merit and to help keep those works in public view. In addition to providing analysis of literary works, scholarship also serves the practical purpose of pointing out works worthy of further attention. That is, the critic not only provides some insight into the work, but, by merely writing about the work, he or she helps keep the work in the public's eye.

As we enter fully into the information age, this byproduct of scholarship is particularly critical. In 1997 alone there were 65,796 books published. Of these, 7,963 were described as works of fiction and 2,729 were labeled works of literature (US Bureau of the Census 2000, p. 574). These figures are for only one year. Clearly, as Lanham (2001: p. 17) discusses, the information age is marked not by a scarcity of information, but by a scarcity of attention with which to process the flood of information. Within this information age, scholarship helps direct people's attention to works worthy of further consideration. Critics pick certain works from the thousands that are published and, by providing further discussion on those works, indicate that these works should not be lost within the flood.

Hypertext also faces this issue. While there are not as many hypertext titles published as there are books, there are still an increasing number each year. Also, since many of these are self-published, it can often be hard to know of them. Contests such as the Electronic Literature Awards single out works from the current year that deserve attention, but what about works from two or three years ago? What about works from the last decade or works from what Coover (1999) calls, "The Golden Age of Hypertext"? Are any of these worth reading now? A body of hypertext criticism will help keep works in discourse. Such discourse will not only remind us of where we have been, it will also help shape where we are going. Without such discussions, both the academics as well as the larger social communities that have increasingly embraced hypertext fictions will be impoverished.

References

Coover, R. (1999) "Literary Hypertext: The Passing of the Golden Age". Digital Arts and Culture, Atlanta, Georgia, 29 October
http://nickm.com/vox/golden_age.html

Lanham, R. (2001) "What's Next for Text". Education, Communication & Information, 1(1)
http://www.open.ac.uk/eci/lanham/femoset.html

United States Bureau of the Census (2000) Statistical Abstract of the United States, 120th edition, Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office)