Indexes as Hypertext

Indexes as Hypertext

Tesserae to tablets... ...uncovering the future5 September 2014

Simon [email protected]@sprowberry

“the sense of ‘hyper-’ [in hypertext]

connotes extension and

generality”

Literary Hypertext

Hypertext needs structure

Indexes can provide this!

“In one sense the index defines other books that could be constructed from the materials at hand, other themes that the author could have formed into an analytical narrative, and so invites the reader to read the book in alternative ways. An index transforms a book from a tree into a network, offering multiplicity in place of a single order of paragraphs and pages” (Jay David Bolter)

Indexing & Power

Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire(1962)• A poet & a madman in two

realities: New Wye & Zembla• Parody of a scholarly edition or

detective fiction?• Hypertext structure

Dramatis Personæ:John ShadeCharles KinboteJakob Gradus

71

247

894

Where does Pale Fire end?

OR

А [a]Б [b]В [v]Г [g]Д [d]Е [e]Ё [yo]Ж [zh]З [z] ZEMBLAИ [i]Й [j]К [k]Л [l]М [m]Н [n]О [o]П [p]

Р [r]С [s]Т [t]У [u]Ф [f]Х [h]Ц [cz]Ч [ch]Ш [sh]Щ [shh]Ъ [“]Ы [y’]Ь [‘]Э [e’]Ю [yu]Я [ya] ORBICLE OF JASP

• Line 558: “Terra the Fair, an orbicle of jasp”

• Note: “The loveliest couplet in this canto”

• Only behind: cell and box• Other choices: Yaruga,

Yaroslavskiy, Janus, iamb, linguist, apple, buttocks

Mark Danielewski, House of Leaves (2000)• A house much bigger on the

inside• A scholarly text with two

protagonists –Typographically ambitious

Dramatis Personæ:Will NavidsonZampanòJohnny Truant

iv-v

vii

319

376

379

Ed.• NOT IN INDEX:

134, 550-552, 586, 646-645, 650-656,

• ED. FOR EDITOR:11, 16-17, 34, 46, 71, 86, 88, 100, 115, 122-123, 126, 136, 152, 165, 596, 301, 305, 320, 331-332, 378, 381, 413, 480

Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts (2007)• Like Jaws, but with words

• Conceptual sharks• Plays with the material page• Unchapters and negative space

Dramatis Personæ:Eric SandersonScoutDr FidorusMycroft Ward

33

64

158

247

267

Subversive Indexing

PF: Shade, Sybil, S’s wife, passim.RST: Code, Rule of four, █

Aames, Clio, (Gold Index only)

HoL: collagen . . . DNE [Does Not Exist]

Subversive Indexing in RST

Gold Index only:Clio Aames; The First Eric Sanderson; The Second Eric Sanderson; ScoutRedacted:Rule of Four Code; Ludovician<Metavician; Mycroft Ward

Does Not Exist in HoL• Aggressor• Arterial• Ballerina• Bandage• Buckles• Bundle• Buttress• Canine• Capricious• Cartouche• Claps• Collagen

• Collector• Condemn• Confuse• Copacetic• Crab• Custodian• Dazzle• Defenstration• Dégueulasse• Denounce• Denunciation• Detritus

• Diner• Disclose• Discombobula

ting• Disintegrate• Dispossess• Dolphin• Domus(black)• Donkey• Eject

etc

All three tactics encourage the user to search through the text.

Feral Indexing?

Indexes and Bookishness

Reconfigure the Index

Indexes as Hypertext

Tesserae to tablets... ...uncovering the future5 September 2014

Simon [email protected]@sprowberry