Appraisal of Reader's Role in Revolutionary Potential of Hypertext Fiction

One of the outstanding effects of development in technology is on literature; times when novels were read just through printed books have passed. By introducing electronic literature readers can experience a virtual reality and additional aesthetic pleasure in compare to printed texts. This paper puts forward that electronic literature and specifically hypertext fiction encourages readers to see writing in a radical sense as connecting one text to another and form a new composite. The cybernetic environment endows readers different roles to engage in a story and incorporate their identities toward fictional characters. Literary creativity needs to converge with computer and through by this way readers encounter various layers of meaning and can interpret a story without the author's interference. However, the problem is that with this structure, it is impossible for the readers to respond in a realistic normal way as they did in print technology because, the electronic authors create several paths to be followed. Therefore, this study aims to analyze how hypertext novel has empowered readers to take some of the roles historically played by authors. Recognition that modern ways of reading caused by introduction of the Internet and also connection between literature and science illuminate literary texts, make this paper an inevitable area of research. [Ladan Modir, Sohaimi Bin Abdul Aziz, Mohammad Saghafi. Appraisal of Reader's Role in Revolutionary Potential of Hypertext Fiction. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):5244-5246] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 780