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poetopology. folded space, traversal machines and the poetics of ‘emergent text.’ The first
proposition has to do with space. It concerns the
fact that the discussion of the affinity between
space and hypermedia has suffered from the fact
that it relies on a static, Cartesian rather than a
dynamic, topological concept of space. Drawing on
Deleuze, I propose the figure of 'folding' , -
rather than 'linking', 'surfing' or 'navigating' -
as a way to think of textual movement:s within
topological space. My second
proposition concerns the dynamics of hypertext in
the context of its 'eventuality', 'performativity'
and 'interactivity'. Aarseth's definition of
cybertext as a 'text that involves calculation in
the production of its scriptons', especially when
it is coupled with the spatial metaphor of folding,
can offer new insights into these fields.
The third
proposition concerns what might be called 'emergent
text'. Drawing on examples from print- as well as
digital literature, philosophy (Deleuze), hypertext
theory (Aarseth) and complexity theory, I consider
some of the problems and possibilities surrounding
the creation of 'autopoietic texts' through
specific programmings (such as built-in 'chance
operations') of the ‘traversal’
hypertextmachine. (given
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