Explain why the story of Robinson Crusoe and Odyssey are examples of hypotext?
Answers
A hypotext is a text that stands as an inspiration or basis for a future literature piece. Many texts are "keys" that uncover the meanings of other texts.
In the the book 'Foe', the author J.M Coetzee provides a new vision of Robinson Crusoe. It rewrites the story of a Robinson Crusoe with a lot of metaphor and inspiration. It describes a completely different Robinson Crusoe, but the hypo text served as a starting point and inspiration. Also, Michael Tournier's book 'Friday and Robinson' is another version of Robinson Crusoe. It is basically a children version of Robinson Crusoe, that tells the story in a different, more modern way, a reply to the initial text.
In the same way the 'Odyssey' stood as an inspiration for James Joyce's 'Ulysses'. One defining feature is the fact that in the second piece of literature (in this case Ulysses) are many indications to the main text. For example many characters found in the hypo text can be fount in the second text as well.