Ipertesto

author
Francesca Sangalli

coding
Ivan Pedrini, LAC

Author’s notes

Inspired by Jose Luis Borges’ dystopic story “The Library of Babel”, ideally the Hypertext could offer man all available knowledge, just like the metaphor of the “spider web as vast as the world”, the internet. Here we are immersed in a continuous flow of textual references, similar to a portal shared by different authors, the most violent and obsessive kind of excavation possible. This is an introspective journey in the second person, undertaken with the aim entering another character and delving as deeply as possible into the multiple natures of man, through all the writers who have meant the most for me and who emerged out of my memory during the course of this quest. The itinerary does not pause but continues on in dizzying intensity until we meet the monster at the center of the web, or labyrinth, both literary and poetic, using the language of the theatrical monologue but divesting it of the ego. I experimented with a manipulative way of leading the reader on, speaking to him directly.

The response to the search for a model that connects all the different texts I have read is a very personal one, since I myself had control over what I chose (or at least that was my illusion). I, the author, am the model. What was it that led me to move from reading one text to another? The network was studied systematically but it was also guided by the Unconscious. The Unconscious, memory, linguistic references, bodily sensations direct the echoes of writers’ souls.

In order not to get lost in the stream of consciousness, you will find key words in the text. Each of these words will lead you on to a next reading or to the diary, the game becomes ever more complex but if you want to reach the center of the labyrinth you must be ready to read all the way to the end, read through the text and understand the connection that from one thought evokes a quote or a new reading. If you appropriate this unconscious, once you get past the halfway point, you will have intuited what connects the texts and transports them. If the game frustrates you, you can always read the downloadable text from the link “Linear Text” located on the upper left in the reading screen.

Enjoy the experience! Enjoy the puzzle.
Francesca Sangalli

Francesca Sangalli
She was very young when she debuted as a playwright, winning awards and recognition in the theatre and cinema worlds. From there she moved on to fiction and has been published by DeA Planeta (De Agostini group), Fausto Lupetti Editore, she works with Salani and Mondadori. A versatile many-sided writer, her work ranges from political and historic themes to poignant fiction with dreamlike, poetic and even comic qualities. For years she has been working in cinema and television, especially with Fulvio Lucisano (IIF), for ITV Movie in the programme Crozza nel paese delle Meraviglie, and she has written screenplays for shorts and animated series. She lives and works in Milan where she teaches writing at the Bauer school.