Hypertextual, interactive and multimedial qualities ante litteram in the novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, published between
1759 and 1767, place Sterne's work "among those printed texts that somehow
announce the forthcoming of hypertext".
This definition by Patrizia Nerozzi Bellman introduces an undertaking started
in 2000: the creation of Tristram Shandy Web, an effective exemplum of web edition
of a literary work. The presence in the novel of continuous interaction between
writing and drawing, enriched with hints to music and sound, and calls to imagination
(and action) of the reader, makes Tristram Shandy a test bed for new formats
of edition and communication. In Tristram Shandy Web the text stands out in
the center of the webpage, framed on the right with the novel index, and on
the left with nine sections (Arts, Fashion, History, HyperTS, Irishness, Language
and Rhetoric, Music, Novel, Poetry), that can be opened in pop-up windows. Each
section, in its turn, is divided into three areas: Critical Studies, Bibliography
& Net Resources, E-Texts. Tristram Shandy Web can be considered as a net
of shared and enlargeable knowledges: a virtual meeting place where one can
exchange studies and inquiries both on the subject matter (Sterne's novel) and
on subjects related to it from various points of view: historical, linguistic,
artistic, philosophical, political and psychological.
Patrizia Nerozzi Bellmann is Professor of English Literature at IULM University in Milan. She directs "Humanities Lab", a cultural centre that studies the connections between humanities and IT. In May 2006 "Humanities Lab", in collaboration with Stanford University, presents games@iulm, a meeting on esthetical and cultural value of videogames.

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