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Hypertext syntagmas: cinematic narration with links
partial nodes

Syntagmatic series can be formed in two manners within any specific node. It can be considered from the point of view of the node in its entirety, as a discrete but whole 'chunk'. Alternatively it can be formed from only part of its content, from a source prior to the end of the node.

This is common in Web hypertext where you may follow a link before reading an entire page, and is completely different to cinema and other models where the unity of the basic units can be assumed to be more or less sacrosant.

A syntagmatic series is obviously still formed, even where it consists of fragments of nodes, and the possibility of this is probably best theorised utilising Deleuze's theory of montage in relation to cinema, work that has been partially begun in Miles (1999a, 1999b). This ability in hypertext is significant, as it raises significant theoretical questions about hypertext ontology since it demonstrates that it may be erroneous to regard a node as a minimal unit - if it is minimal how can it be further subdivided? Similarly, in the context of Deleuze's work, the question revolves around a paradox of wholeness - if a node is whole (autonomous and meaningful in itself), then how can it be fragmented by linking from its parts? This problematises notions of closure.

Adrian Miles: Hypertext syntagmas: cinematic narration with links
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Journal of Digital Information