This
article is concerned with the question to what
extent literary hypertext and hypermedia are
compatible with the concept of canonicity. The
discussion centres around ideologies surrounding
canon and censorship, the causal relationship
between canon and the curriculum and, finally, the
role and possibilities of digital literature within
traditional and innovative notions of canonicity. I
argue that the traditionally static concept of the
literary canon (including alternative canons) needs
to be replaced by an inherently dynamic one, which
follows the principles of avant-garde aesthetics.
The article closes with an exemplary ‘rule
canon’ for literary hypermedia.
1. Introduction
2. The literary canon
3. Canons as processes
4. The role of materiality
5. Closure or openness?
6. The end of the canon as we know it?
7. Canon and curriculum
8. Canonising hypermedia – an ‘apologetic
crusade’?
9. References
10. Notes