English Language and Literature Commons^™

The Many Paths Of Cyberspace: William Gibson's The Sprawl As Prototype For Structural, Thematic, And Narrative Multilinearity In New Media, Erik Marsh

Masters Theses

William Gibson’s Sprawl trilogy helped set a new direction for science fiction, but his work is also a valuable tool for examining changes in the approach both readers and writers began to take to approaching literature as the text medium began its rapid evolution with the introduction of electronic hypertext. In this examination of Gibson’s fiction, a pattern of multilinear truth emerges, showing how Western culture began to fully embrace Postmodern approaches to truth claims as a default, how even a pre-electronic text can exhibit hypertext-like aspects, and how this shift in interpretive response to literature is important for Christians …