Tales Told by a Computer

This article considers the claims made by those supporting the development of hypertet literary narrative, in particular the notion that narrative might be 'superior' where the reader, or consumer, can in some way participate in the telling or interact with the story and its unfolding. Countering this argument, the article suggests that the passivity of the reader, his incapacity to influence the story he is reading is absolutely central to the literary enterprise as we have known it and to notions of pathos and catharsis.