The CDN Inaugural Lecture: A Half-Century of Hypertext

"I would compare the experience of traditional narrative with listening to a guide on a tour bus, while reading hypertext is getting on a train, getting off a train in an unfamiliar city, and wandering down each alleyway that catches your interest. It's more like backpacking," says Professor Robert Arellano, in this inaugural CDN lecture, on the subject of hypertext literature.

Arellano taught some of the first digital writing workshops, from 1991 onwards. In 1996, Arellano published the first hypertext novel to appear on the web, Sunshine '69. His deep connection to the genesis of digital narrative has shaped decades of creative writing and educational endeavors in the realm of electronic literature.

Here he provides an up-to-the-moment update on a recent keynote presentation delivered at the "Half-Century of Hypertext" celebration hosted by Brown University, and promises to provide a fresh perspective on the evolution of hypertext and its influence on modern digital narratives. 

Photo:

CDN

Through Arellano's unique lens, we'll traverse the evolution of hypertext from its earliest conception to its ubiquitous use in the present day, witnessing its profound influence on modern digital narrative and our everyday interactions on the internet.

From early experiments to today's frontiers, we'll explore the fusion of technology and imagination, from the earliest digital experiments in nonlinear text technology to the augmented reality of the present.

The lecture is transcribed in the Vimeo link and attached as a PDF below.