The melancholic hypertext : the fate of the writer in the tangential narrative

This thesis examines the nature of an electronic medium known as hypertext in relation to the act and experience of writing and expression. Essential to the thesis is a conviction that the experiential realm that is created by a particular medium of communication and/or representation is capable of also creating new 'habits of mind' or 'worldings.' These two concepts are indicative of the intensity of experience that is made available via an expressive act and the extent to which the various aspects of this intensity are capable of transformations on personal and public levels.