Hypertext Linearity

"All hypertexts retain some degree of absolute sequence, some minimal dimension or granularity -- word, phrase, paragraph, chapter -- at which the reader is momentarily disengaged from the variability of the text. Following Roland Barthes, Landow calls these units "lexias". . . Lexias are units of local stability in the general flux of the hypertext, invariant moments in the larger pattern of textual displacement. The relationship between the lexia and links that connect them is implicitly dialectical, a dynamic opposition of forces. The local stability of the lexia arouse expectations of coherence and internal consistency, familiar hallmarks of print; but the operation of the link overturns these expectations, constantly throwing the reader into unfamiliar discursive territory, invalidating apparent structures of causality and necessity. No wonder hypertext seems so problematic to researchers interested in coherence and unity: the experience of hypertextual reading is fundamentally dissonant. " (Stuart A. Moulthrop "Shadow of an Informand" ).

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