If the 20th century is a century of language and linguistic literary theory, then the 21st century is a century of new media and media literary theory. Media literary theory, as a form of the post-linguistic literary theory, represents the sublation and transformation of linguistic literary theory. Linguistic literary theory occurred in the context of "the linguistic turn", while media literary theory is the outcome of "the media turn". Literary form is not only of linguistic structure but also the structure of the media system. The literary world is not only the real world constructed by language but also the virtual reality constructed by the literary media. The practice of literary language has occurred in the context realistically where the media take part in the construction of the text, scene, and culture. Literary activities rely on the existing realities in which four elements in the literary tradition have been integrated by the media. That the media literary theory transforms linguistic literary theory accords with the inner requirement of the development of culture in the era of new media, the reality of literature and the development of literary theory.
Espen J. Aarseth's reflections on popular theories about the hypertext have primarily led to his distinction between the structure and the reading of the hypertext, since, for him, it is the hypertext' nonlinearity rather than multi-linearity that determines the real differences between the hypertext and the traditional text. He analyzes the power relation between the author and the reader of the hypertext, and criticizes some popular claims about the hypertext such as "reader-as-writer", "de-centralization", and "interactivity". On the basis of the distinction of the structure and the reading of the hypertext, he poses that the hypertext is of non-narrative structure by which readers can obtain a subjective sense of narrative during reading.
