In this special lecture, Professor Hyun-Joo Yoo examined the characteristics of modern digital networks including the Internet, using “open versus closed system” as a key analytical concept. Professor Yoo pointed out that hypertexts, basic components of digital networks aiming to be an open system or “the universe of texts”, have ended up being closed systems. Furthermore, she emphasized that “[U]nder the influence of power relations, digital networks composed of closed systems act to disperse information and knowledge rather than to facilitate communications among people.” This colloquium considered hypertexts as an important embodiment of the mobility of texts, with implications for expanding the scope of mobility humanities research.
Professor Hyun-Joo Yoo received her doctoral degree, with a dissertation on aesthetic possibilities of digital literature at Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany. She is currently Professor in the department of German Literature at Yonsei Univeristy. Her extensive research interests include media theory, cultural theory, and German contemporary literature. Her books include 《Text, Hypertext, Hypermedia》 and 《Friedrich Kittler》. In addition, Professor Yoo translated 《Grammophon, Film, Typewriter》 into Korean and published journal articles titled “Kittler and Gender” and “Intermediale Memory of Text and Image”.