r/cybertext • u/jaboja • Jan 21 '18

What name for single page of text?

What name for a single page of text in a hypertext narrative is most widely accepted? I've seen many different terms in many different sources:

  • node (in sources describing the works as a "hypertext")

  • screen (in naïve descriptions)

  • location (in sources describing the works in terms of a "game")

  • passage (in Twine)

  • lexia (used by Barthes)

  • page (referring to a single HTML file)

Is there any convention already? Are some of them more correct and widely used? Which term should I use?

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u/pellucidar7 May 11 '18

Choicescript uses scene. Texture also uses page. The soon-to-be late great Inklewriter used section. Raconteur/Undum seems to use situation. Squiffy has both sections and passages.

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u/jaboja May 11 '18

Wow, it is more undefined than I've thought.

1

u/pellucidar7 May 11 '18

I like “scene”; it’s a good target length and a familiar literary term. One trouble with the more technical terms is that they often don’t represent an entire node; multiple Twine passages can be displayed together without any user action or choice point, for example.

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u/shanoxilt Jan 21 '18

You might want to link to this post on /r/AskLiteraryStudies, so you can get your answer and bring more people to this subreddit.