Minimal units of hypertext

[Kelli Cargile Cook]

I've been considering Marty's questions as well, so I'll follow Karen's post
with some thinking aloud of my own.

Marty, you asked about the minimal units of discourse in hypertext....There
are obviously, many ways to "count" units (and many different
classifications of "units" to count).  Nevertheless, the first idea that
comes to me is either three or two....Three if you count writer, reader, and
text (broadly defined, a text can be any of those things Karen mentions:
screens, words, pictures, links), or two--text and writer/reader--if writer
and reader are the same person.

This definition leads to some obvious questions--can I discourse with myself
as I write?   I think I can and do....Karen's post seems to reflect a
similar internal "conversation."   And is the hermeneutic process I engage
in as a hypertext reader/writer discourse?  It depends on how we define
"discourse."  I read "text;"  I connect it with other "texts" (again broadly
defined); I interpret its meaning through joining in a conversation of sorts
with it and with the intertext I create for it/it creates for me.

Enough gnawing for now,

Kelli


-----Original Message-----
From: Karen McComas <mccomas at MARSHALL.EDU>
To: DISCOURS at LINGUIST.LDC.UPENN.EDU <DISCOURS at LINGUIST.LDC.UPENN.EDU>
Date: Friday, January 08, 1999 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: Introduction


>Hi Marty,
>
>Haven't introduced myself yet, but you've thrown out some good bait :)
>
>I'm not very clear on the scope of discourse (one reason I joined this
list)
>but let me respond with a theory of my own about hypertext environment, if
it
>is a discourse (and I'm not certain that it is - let's just suppose it
>is)....I think the minimal unit of discourse in a hypertext environment is
>either .... oh drats, I was going to initially say it was a single screen,
but
>just as I started to type that I started to second guess myself...could it
be
>a single letter, linked to another document....could it be a graphic,
linked
>to another document....hmmmmmm....someone else better jump in here ;)
>
>Marty Jacobsen wrote:
>
>> Dear Discours-ers:
>>
>> I'm Marty Jacobsen, a co-owner of DISCOURS and associate editor and
>> Webmaster for the LINGUIST List.  A student with James Cornish and John
>> Krajicek in the discourse studies program at Texas A&M, I am currently
>> scheduling a defense of my dissertation, which deals with
orality/literacy
>> and hypertextuality.
>>
>> I have a one-time offer to gnaw on something that gnaws at me.  One of
the
>> most interesting things to me in discourse studies is the choice of a
>> minimal unit of discourse, which we all know varies with approach and
>> purpose.  What is the minimal unit of discourse in a hypertext
>> environment? Is there one?  Is hypertext a discourse and can it be
>> measured this way?  I've got thoughts but not theories about this.
>>
>> Any takers?
>>
>> Marty Jacobsen, Ab.D
>> Texas A&M
>
>--
>:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:
>
>Karen L. McComas
>Communication Disorders, Marshall University
>Huntington, WV  25755-2634
>URL:  http://www.marshall.edu/commdis/mccomas.htmlx
>M**:  Van*Faussien
>More info?  finger mccomas at marshall.edu