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1. Purposes and Research Context The purpose of this exercise
is to find out what in the world we gain from literature's
turning "interactive." What is the benefit of being
compelled to read from a screen? This question will be
discussed in the account of an extended reading experiment
with "Quibbling," a piece of interactive fiction by Carolyn
Guyer (1993). Of course, there is more to this than merely
"text on a screen." "Quibbling" is a hypertext, undoubtedly
sophisticated literature, a poetic text about interesting
persons, a widely ramified "story," and (on top of
everything?) it is also "interactive." Who is the reader
demanding such interactive literature? In what reading model
will the recipient find himself or herself? Interactive computer fiction
still appears to be largely unaware of its value and its
reception. Thus, the author at one point has her literary
alter ego, Priam, who broods over a hypertext about Margret
& Henry, guess that this hypertext, with its many
references, may never see publication: "Who in hell
publishes computer fiction anyway? Let alone reads it." I
did read "Quibbling" largely the way it befits a reader of
computerized literature, namely at the computer. This will
be the subject of this report, mainly a description of
phenomena, not a theoretical debate which, of course, also
exists especially by authors such as Michael
Joyce. His "Afternoon" (1992) has
meanwhile become one of the best known examples of American
hypertext fiction. The author also deals with the
theoretical aspects of reading and reception (cf. Joyce
1995). Reports exist about the reception especially of
"Afternoon." I had to stop reading with a rather sobering
result (cf. Wingert 1996), but I have learnt from Jane
Yellowlees Douglas in the meantime that the story does work
out (cf. 1994); her patience with "Afternoon" exceeded mine
by one round. Another theoretical frame of
reference is the theory of hypertext. Indeed, the thesis
that the reader is released from the constraints of
linearity, is no longer separated from the author, and is no
longer the victim of the author's authoritarian voice, may
be considered one of the central aspects of hypertext.
(1) The piece of research to be
described here, the self-experiment in reading a hypertext,
is also connected to a project on electronic books (cf.
Böhle/ Riehm/ Wingert 1997) in which, among other
things, an attempt was made to develop three prototypes of
electronic books, align them to different types of text, and
evaluate them after development - a program which the
project group managed to complete in only one of the
prototypes, a brief description of the project (cf. Riehm
1994). The other two prototypes were only partly subjected
to such reading and reception tests. In one case, the object was
a text about electronic manuscripts and publishers into the
electronic version of which an SGML editor was integrated.
The third prototype was about a lecture by the media
philosopher, Vilém Flusser, which was processed in
such a way that the reader was able to listen to the author,
read the author's "text," or critically review the author's
arguments. This multiple choice clearly indicates that the
reader may assume different roles and engage in different
communication relations. He or she can also try out
different modes of reading, such as the three types
discussed frequently: reading as flying over the text and as
a hasty selection of bits and pieces (often called
„skimming"), a step by step procedure, retrieving items
and sometimes searching for them („browsing"), and a
third mode („reading") as a sense-driven process, but
at times stumbling and then turning to deciphering and
unraveling. (Incidentally, "to read" also has a meaning like
"to guess;" cf. Flusser 1989, 79; Hasebrook 1995, 194; one
of the meanings of "quibbling" is ambiguous). In this project, researching
the changes in reading brought about by hypertexts and
electronic books continued to be an important issue (cf.
Wingert; Böhle; Riehm 1993). It is obvious that
"hypertext," as a new mode of structuring and presentation,
is bound to entail new approaches to reading and new
strategies of reception. This report will essentially be an
account of experience; theoretical aspects will be dealt
with only as a sideline (e.g. about "closure").
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