Hypertext and the author/reader dialogue
Susan Michalak, Mary B. Coney · 1993
Hypertext theorists tend to approach the hypertext concept from radically different philosophical positions.Some theorists stress hypertext's utility as an information storage and retrieval device; others praise hypertext's ability to free the reader from linear media; still others applaud hypertext's connectivity and its ability to create a basis for the communal creation of knowledge.The hypertext documents that these theorists envision (and create) are quite different from one another because they are based on each theorist's particular perspective on hypertext.Recently, many hypertext theorists have acknowledged a need for hypertext authors to develop a better rhetorical understanding of their readers; however, the reader roles that most hypertext theorists have thus far anticipated do not encompass all of the reader roles that hypertext can accommodate.Coney (Cone92a) has offered a comprehensive "taxonomy of readers" that-although it was originally conceived as a taxonomy of readers of conventional print-provides deeper insight into hypertext reader roles.In this paper, we will discuss the philosophical traditions invoked by various hypertext theorists and the reader roles that are accommodated or required by those traditions.Finally, we will discuss the hypertext author's virtual presence, the implied author, as a corollary of reader role.