Hypertext as Method Reflections on Hypertext as Design Logic

The proposed panel demonstrates how viewing hypertext as method and mode of inquiry (rather than simply technology) can foreground synergies between book history, textual studies and computer science, and enhance the scope of research in the wider humanities community. Hypertext as method is explored through six interconnected papers, each showcasing a different interpretation or approach. The first discusses the role of hypertext as a pivot connecting the Humanities approach with the design of hypertext systems. The subsequent two papers discuss proto-hypertextual logic in specific historical instances before the final three demonstrate the explicit application of the hypertext method to contemporary book history challenges: webcomics, videogames, and interactive fiction. The aim is to demonstrate the potential of hypertext to energise collaboration among book historians, textual scholars, and hypertext scholars, who have often missed collaborations with one another. The breadth of subjects covered by the panel showcases the potential of hypertext as method while providing possible avenues for hypertext as a community to build connections with other disciplinary areas.