Victory Garden is a work of electronic literature by American author Stuart Moulthrop. It was written in StorySpace and published by Eastgate Systems in 1992. It is often discussed along with Michael Joyce's Afternoon, a story as an important work of hypertext fiction. Electronic literature refers to texts that take advantage of the capabilities of computers, software, or network technologies. ... Stuart Moulthrop is an innovator of electronic literature and hypertext fiction, both as a theoretician and as a writer. ... This article is about the hypertext author and scholar. ... Afternoon, a story is a hypertext fiction written in 1987 by American author Michael Joyce. ... Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext links which provides a new context for non-linearity in literature and reader interaction. ...

Plot and structure

Victory Garden is a hypertext novel set in 1991, during the Gulf War. The story centres on the character of Emily Runbird and the lives and interactions of the people connected with her life. Although Emily is a central figure to the story and networked lives of the characters, there is no one character who could be classed as the protagonist. Each character in Victory Garden lends their own sense of perspective to the story and all characters are linked through a series of bridges and connections.

There is no set "end" to the story. Rather there are multiple nodes that provide a sense of closure for the reader. In one such "ending", Emily appears to die. However, in another "ending", she comes home safe from the war. How the story plays out depends on the choices the reader makes during their navigation of the text. The term node can refer to: Node, a spatial locus along a standing wave where the wave has minimal amplitude. ...

Upon entering the work the reader is presented with a series of choices as to how to navigate the work. The reader may enter the text through a variety of means: the map of the 'garden', the lists of paths, or by the composition of a sentence. Each of these paths guides the reader though fragmented pieces of the story (in the form of node) and it is by reading and rereading many different paths that the reader receives the different perspectives of the different characters.

Politics in Victory Garden

According to literary theorist Dave Ciccoricco (2007, 95), "Although some early critics were quick to see Victory Garden as rooted in a leftist political ideology, Moulthrop's narrative is not unequivocally leftist. Its political orientation in a sense mirrors its material structure, for neither sits on a stable axis. In fact, Moulthrop is more interested in questioning how a palette of information technologies contributes to - or, for those who adopt the strong reading, determines - the formation of political ideologies. In addition to popular forms of information dissemination, this palette would include hypertext technology, which reflexively questions its own role in disseminating information as the narrative of Victory Garden progresses. An ideology is a collection of ideas. ...

Citing Sven Birkerts' observation that attitudes toward information technologies do not map neatly onto the familiar liberal/conservative axis, Moulthrop writes: Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ...

Newt Gingrich and Timothy Leary have both been advocates of the Internet... I am interested less in old ideological positions than in those now emerging, which may be defined more by attitudes toward information and interpretive authority than by traditional political concerns. (Moulthrop 1997, 674 n4) The politics of Victory Garden, much like its plot, do not harbor foregone conclusions. In a 1994 interview, Moulthrop says it 'is a story about war and the futility of war, and about its nobility at the same time' (Dunn 1994)."^[1] The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... Look up war in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

See also

• Electronic Literature Organization

The Electronic Literature Organisation (ELO) is a nonprofit organisation initiated in 1999 to promote the creation and enjoyment of electronic literature. ...

External links

• Eastgate
• Victory Garden
• Victory Garden Sampler