One of the questions raised at the ICA pre-conference on new media is over how hyperlinks can structure knowledge.
Michael Zimmer, Microsoft Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School for 2007-2008, offers a provoking idea, exploring how the French philosopher Diderot employed “textual hyperlinks” in his Encyclopédie.
This was a work published in France between 1751 and 1772. Zimmer highlighted how Diderot sought to bypass censorship by using “see alsos” on the entries.
These textual hyperlinks were used to subvert authority by adding potential subversive context to entries, argued Zimmer. For example, the entry on communion had a see also to cannabalism.
This provides the means for readers to create their own paths of information, much like people can now do through the use of web hyperlinks.
Zimmer’s question is to what extent can new media allow audiences to create paths of information that subvert authority, much like Diderot’s Encyclopédie did in the 18th century.
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