Wreader

Dual role of users in digital spaces, being consumers as well as creators of written content
Hanna Weimann 2026-03-13

Explication

The term wreader – a portmanteau of the words writer and reader – was coined in 1994 by George P. Landow concerning the human interaction with hypertext (14). Hypertext is the optionally hierarchical connection of text fragments or documents. These connections are actualized in the digital space as hyperlinks. Often, a reader is presented with multiple hyperlinks, each linking to a different document, which again contains hyperlinks the reader can choose from to explore. Additionally, hypertext systems can provide an option for readers to create their own cross references or document structure (Schnupp 15, 16). 

If a hypertext system allows for reader contribution, readers generate additional content through references, notes, and their own texts. Users of such hypertext systems read already existing content and write new texts, therefore becoming wreaders. Facilitating common access to those individual versions for all users of the system enables the initially solitary act of wreading to be shared with a community and have “powerfully democratizing effects” (Landow 14). 

Since then, the usage of the term wreader has been expanded to other digital spaces, e. g. users of online literature platforms that feature comment sections. These have opened a new way of communication between authors and readers, which did not exist previously. Readers can submit their thoughts, feelings, and opinions with respect to the text. If the text is published in serialized form, readers can comment on the most recent chapter before the next one is published or even written. In some instances, the author does interact with the comments, creating a direct dialogue, e. g. taking suggestions for the upcoming plot or receiving feedback on the development of a character (Kraxenberger and Lauer 486). 

Through this process, readers participate in the development of the narrative, while authors integrate readers’ input into their work. In both cases, the roles of author and reader are broadened to include traits traditionally associated with the other. Additionally, most users of online literature platforms read as well as publish literature on online literature platforms. This further exemplifies the multifaceted nature of users in digital spaces and evokes the experience of the wreader (Kraxenberger and Lauer 484).

See Also

• Hypertext - Type of document comprised of interrelated textual nodes that are connected via associative links, facilitating non-linear traversal and reading

Works Referenced

Landow, George P. “What’s a Critic to Do? Critical Theory in the Age of Hypertext.” Hyper/Text/Theory, 1994, pp. 1-50. 

Kraxenberger, Maria and Gerhard Lauer. “Wreading on Online Literature Platforms”. Written Communication, vol. 39, no. 3, 2022, pp. 462-496. doi:10.1177/07410883221092730. 

Schnupp, Peter. Hypertext. De Gruyter, 1992.

Further Reading

Kouta, Ashraf Taha Mohamed. “Narrative Nonlinearity and the Birth of the Wreader: A Hypertext Critical Reading of Selected Digital Literary Texts.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 62, no. 5, 2021, pp. 586-602. doi: 10.1080/00111619.2020.1804820. 

Modir, Ladan, et al. “Text, Hypertext, and Hyperfiction: A Convergence Between Poststructuralism and Narrative Theories.” SAGE Open, January-March 2014, pp. 1-8, 2014. doi: 10.1177/2158244014528915. 

Romero López, Dolores. “Poetics of Crisis or Crisis of Poetics in Digital Reading/Writing? The Case of Spanish Digital Literature.” Literary and Linguistics Computing, vol. 27, no. 3, 2012, pp. 305-320. doi: 10.1093/llc/fqs030.

Cite This Copied to clipboard

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International