I want to draw a distinction here between the interactivity and electronicism
of texts. There are many interactive texts that are not electronic at all. Espen
Aarseth and Janet Murray both devote a good deal of space in Cybertext
and Hamlet on the Holodeck, respectively, to texts such as the I Ching
and Live-Action Role-Playing. Likewise, there are plenty of electronic texts that
require little participation from the reader at all - the majority of writing
on the web right now either has or could have print versions.
Similarly, there are many elements of hypertext that have been observed in
print texts time and time again. I am only concerned with electronic hypertexts
in this thesis because I am arguing for hypertext to be an electronic and interactive
genre with its own set of techniques, forms, and critical strengths and weaknesses.
I am concerned with what only these electronic texts can do. Print literature's
participation in the category of hypertext
is interesting, but is outside of my scope.