Hypertext, in

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

, is a text which alludes to, derives from, or relates to an earlier work or

hypotext Hypotext is an earlier text which serves as the source of a subsequent piece of literature, or hypertext. For example, Homer's Odyssey could be regarded as the hypotext for James Joyce's '' Ulysses''. The word was defined by the French theorist ...

(a subsequent of a hypotext). For example,

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's '' Ulysses'' could be regarded as one of the many hypertexts deriving from

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'';

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

's "The Tiger's Bride" can be considered a hypertext which relates to an earlier work, or hypotext, the original fairy-story ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''. Hypertexts may take a variety of forms including

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

, and

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

. The word was defined by the French theorist

Gérard Genette Gérard Genette (; 7 June 1930 – 11 May 2018) was a French literary theorist, associated in particular with the structuralist movement and with figures such as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of ''b ...

as follows: "Hypertextuality refers to any relationship uniting a text B (which I shall call the ''hypertext'') to an earlier text A (I shall, of course, call it the

), upon which it is grafted in a manner that is not that of commentary." So, a hypertext derives from hypotext(s) through a process which Genette calls transformation, in which text B "evokes" text A without necessarily mentioning it directly ". Note that this technical use of the word in semiotics differs from its use in the field of computing, although the two are related. Liestøl's study of Genette's narratological model and hyperfiction considers how they are related and suggests that hyperfiction narratives have four levels: * 1. Discourse as discoursed; * 2. Discourse as stored; * 3. Story as discoursed; * 4. Stories as stored (potential story lines).

References

Semiotics {{semiotics-stub