III. degree zero of visuality

the left-pointing arrow and 'return' suggest a (story)line, which reinforces the reader's expectation of linear temporality, establishing the concept of a stable story. The existence of links, expressed with the open book icon, tells the reader that there are different alternative storylines. But because of the linear model evoked, it is most likelly that the reader will treat these storylines as intersecting lines or as flashbacks/prolepses in relation to the default line, instead of the truly 'net-like' or 'rhizomatic' structure cherished by most hypertext theoreticians

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This feeling is also strenghtened by the use of an open book as the icon for the links: after all, the reading of Afternoon does not differ so much from leafing through a printed book.

In fact, this relationship to a print book is reinforced by the print button: using it produces a hard copy of the text, even if it is from within the text window only. That is, the title bar (each text window has a title bar), the buttons, or possible background documents, are not printed. Thus it defines in its own very concrete way what is considered as 'text proper.' This means for example that the lexia-titles function more as technical properties of links than they do as chapter titles in printed fiction; however, it is difficult to define who is responsible for this--the author, the programmer, the program used.

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