Hypertext and Feminisms: Voicing the Silence(d)

Hypertext, the electronic linking of text found on internet has revolutionized the domain of literature. It is a linked, multilinear, fragmented and deconstructed text. Its basic tenets are in alignment with the Poststructuralist critical theory. Its characteristic features render it capable of projecting and promoting the concerns of feminists and other marginalised groups. They find a rich terrain in hypertext for their innovative ideas and hypertext, by embodying and manifesting those ideas, promises to promote their concerns. Hypertext is an embodiment of ecriture feminine and pertains to pre-oedipal stage of psychological development of a child. By taking into account some examples of activist and autobiographical hypertexts developed by the students at University of Florida under the guidance of their teacher Laura L. Sullivan, it becomes explicit how the attributes of hypertext could be utilized for criticising, exposing and subverting the patriarchal discourse by offering ample scope for not only thematic but also textual experimentation.Keywords: Hypertext, feminism, activist hypertext, autobiographical hypertext, pre-oedipa