Serbian Literary Thought in the Age of Hypertext

Abstract

In the present paper, I have strived to review and classify the main directions of Serbian literary theoretical and critical thought concerning hypertext and hypertextuality, along with some well-known examples of Serbian hypertextual literature. One can roughly distinguish two phases in the reception of hypertext and hypertextual phenomena in Serbian literary research, separated by the boundary between the previous two decades of the 21st century. The main typological difference between the two phases consists of a preference for different aspects of hypertextuality, such as the existence of links or multimedia. Serbian literary critics have been particularly drawn to several examples of contemporary Serbian hypertextual literature in the area of proto-hypertext (Milorad Pavić), internet literature (Milivoj Anđelković) and post-internet literature (Slobodan Vladušić). The reactions to the inclination of contemporary Serbian literature towards hypertextuality have been ambivalent, especially when it comes to literary hypertexts initially composed for the Web. Commentators such as Branislava Džigurski and Saša Radojčić have been openly critical of the artistic value of Serbian electronic literature. Somewhat more flexible in their evaluations were Vladislava Gordić Petković and Marko Nedić, who pointed out the inadequacies in the critical reception of Serbian hypertextual literature and internet art. Authors who have written for the Web, such as Dragan Babić and Miloš Jocić, tend to agree that Serbian internet literature merits a more favorable critical response. I have therefore concluded my study with an overview of Serbian literary thought on the newest tendencies in Serbian literature created on internet portals, blogs, social networks and other hypermedia platforms.