"Mountain Rumbles" by Deena Larsen
“Your computer will need java to run this hypertext. Please be patient while the java applet loads--this takes about a minute on a 56.6 K modem. (Which is probably just enough time to stare out the window and wonder where the clouds have been.)” -Mountain Rumbles
About the Author
Mountain Rumbles by Deena Larsen is a micro-hypertext containing eight nodes with passages based on the Japanese kanji for “mountain.” Highlighting the relationship between content and structure (as she does with many of her works), Larsen also shows that hypertexts can be short when the connections are based on content, not size.
The passages are displayed in a box at the top-right corner of the window. To navigate the work, the user chooses an underlined word so that another poem relating to that word is displayed. Though the piece is short, the writing and hyperlinks causes the reader to make new connections every time they travel from one passage to another, slightly changing (and in some cases, contributing to) the meaning of the poem.
Hypertext author Deena Larsen has been working in the field since the 1980s, having written the first MA thesis on hypertext titled “Hypertext and Hyperpossibilities.” Thus, she is widely considered as one of the pioneering artists in electronic literature. Obtaining her BA in English from the University of Northern Colorado in 1986 and eventually receiving an MA in English, she has led numerous writers workshops concerning the new genres hypertext has to offer. She has also hosted chats for the Electronic Literature Organization between 2000 and 2005, and taught at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado.
Larsen’s work has been published in journals including The Iowa Review Web, frAme, Cauldron and Net, Blue Moon Review and inFLECT. Additionally, an extensive collection of her works are currently housed at the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities.
Screenshots
This is the title page of Deena Larsen's "Mountain Rumbles." Here, information about technical requirements to run the work are given, in addition to instructions. Credits are placed at the bottom of the box.
This is the first poem the reader encounters. Like all the passages, underlined words are used as hyperlinks to other parts of the work.
Deena Larsen based her work off of the Japanese kanji for "mountain."
This is another passage within the work. By clicking on different hyperlinks each time, the reader makes new connections between the passages and forms a new understanding of the story.
Links to the work
"Mountain Rumbles" has been recorded in Rhizome's webrecorder. Additionally, it has been crawled by the Wayback Machine. A link to Larsen's plate in The Progressive Dinner Party is also provided below.
View "Mountain Rumbles" in the Webrecorder
View the Web Archive Link
View Plate
“E-poets on the State of their Electronic Art: Deena Larsen.” Currents in Electronic Literacy: Fall 2001. https://currents.dwrl.utexas.edu/fall01/survey/larsen.html. Accessed 28 July 2019.
“Deena Larsen.” Eastgate Systems, Inc. https://www.eastgate.com/people/Larsen.html. Accessed 28 July 2019.
“Deena Larsen.” Revolvy. https://www.revolvy.com/page/Deena-Larsen. Accessed 28 July 2019.
Larsen, Deena. Mountain Rumbles. 1999, https://www.cddc.vt.edu/journals/newriver/larsend/yama/index.html. Accessed 28 July 2019.
“Mountain Rumbles.” Elmcip. https://elmcip.net/creative-work/mountain-rumbles. Accessed 28 July 2019.
