The ascertaining of hypervolition begins with the rich history of the term “hyper” through time. As a prefix, it denotes “above,” “beyond,” or “excessive,” or something that “is, or exists in a space of more than three dimensions.” It can also mean bridging points within an entity non-sequentially.”1“Hyper | Definition of Hyper by Merriam-Webster.” Accessed February 23, 2021. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hyper.The word itself predates the beginning of my life by over a millennium, stemming from the Greek “ύπερ” meaning “over, beyond, over much, above measure”, and even further back in history, drawing from the Proto-Indo-European root “uper,” meaning “over.”2Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’.” Accessed February 26, 2021. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/90273?isAdvanced=false&result=4&rskey=aZhZdX&.
A few of the original Greek words made their way into French and English, for example, hyperbole from 13th century in French3“Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française | 9e Édition | Hyperbole.” Accessed February 23, 2021. https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9H1285., and 16th century in English4Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’.” . However, it was not until the 17th century that “hyper-” as a prefix in English began to be extensively used, taking on a life of its own, and being “freely prefixed to adjectives and substantives” like hypersceptical (1638), hyperdiabolical (1641), and hyper-angelical (1650).5Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’.” These three were found within religious contexts, like sermons, with the foremost found in a text by William Chillingworth, a progressive English theological controversialist, poet and skilled debater, who promoted the right of free enquiry, and wrote against the church’s monopoly of the truth.6Cannon, John. “Chillingworth, William.” The Oxford Companion to British History. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed February 23, 2021. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chillingworth-william.The latter two were found in transcribed sermons by Puritan but royalist, John Jackson, who was born in 1600 in England until his demise in 1648.7Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’.”
The earliest record of the hyphenated “hyper” found by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “hyperrhythmical,” located within the text of ‘Crudities.’ This 1611 travelogue was written by Thomas Coryat, who is also credited with introducing the table fork to England, and the word ‘umbrella’ into English.8Speake, Jennifer. Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2003. In preparation for the publication of his book recounting his travels through Europe in 1608, Coryat requested verses in praise of the publication from his friends. They responded with a good-natured collaborative roasting of the eccentric Coryat in seven languages.9“Coryat’s Crudities – The Rosenbach.” Accessed February 25, 2021. https://rosenbach.org/blog/coryats-crudities/.The most outlandish of which, featured the aforementioned term, and also crowned Coryat the “[only] true travelling [Porcupine] of England.”10“Coryat’s Crudities – The Rosenbach.” The word was later notably used by William Mitford, a historian on Ancient Greece, in his 1774 verbosely titled book, ‘An Essay upon the Harmony of Language, Intended Principally to Illustrate that of the English Language.’11Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’
Within the colosseum of critical literature and philosophical discourse, the history of “hyper-” practices is marbled and adorned with innovative ideas and concepts. The definitions of these terms vary depending on the meaning of the prefix used.
“Hypertext” and “hypermedia” emerged from the 1960s through Theodor H. Nelson.12Nelson, Theodor Holm. “Selected Papers, 1977 : Theodor Holm Nelson.” Accessed March 4, 2021. https://archive.org/details/SelectedPapers1977/.He defined the hypertext as a “non-sequential piece of writing” – text on the display of a computer or similar device, with references to other text that the reader can access. Hypermedia was a multimedia extension of hypertext, and was coined around the same time.13Nelson, Theodor Holm. “Selected Papers, 1977 : Theodor Holm Nelson.”.
Nelson clarified in a privately circulated note on January 23rd, 1967, that the ‘hyper-’ used in hypertext, and subsequently hypermedia, is “the mathematical sense of extension and generality (as in ‘hyperspace,’ ‘hypercube’), rather than the medical sense of ‘excessive’ (‘hyperactivity’).” He further explained that there is no “implication about size” as a hypertext could contain as few as 500 words. Thus the “hyper-” refers to the structure, as opposed to size, and any structure is possible as it has no “true” form.14 Nelson, Theodor Holm. “Selected Papers, 1977 : Theodor Holm Nelson.”. In his illustrated lecture handout on hypertext, drawn up nine years later, he mused
“HOW WILL WE, THE READERS AND WRITERS, PROCEED TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT?
Nelson, Theodor Holm. “Selected Papers, 1977
Same old way.
Authors will cite and quote others, but WITH WINDOWS TO THEM.
And the better authors will get read more.”
The “hyperspace” that Nelson referred to, is a geometric term from 1867. It is a space of four or more dimensions.15Oxford English Dictionary. “‘hyper-, Prefix’ Almost 150 years later, in the book ‘The Ecological Thought’, Timothy Morton coined the “hyperobject.” This was not a physical object within a four or more-dimensional space, but rather concepts that are massively distributed in time and space relative to humans.16Morton, Timothy. The Ecological Thought. Harvard University Press, 2012. These hyperobjects possess specific features, which Morton outlined in his follow-up book ‘Hyperobject.’ He used this term to describe entities like climate change, race, and class.17 Morton, Timothy. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World (Posthumanities). 1st ed. Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2013.
Another “hyper-” practice of interest is Jean Baudrillard’s “hyperreal” of the 1980s, which is credited with opening a world of rhetoric within critical discourse. “Hyperreal” is used to refer to something marked with extraordinary vividness, and hyperrealism as an artistic style (“beyond true-to-life”) has long been of study of creators. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a revival in sculptural renditions of figures, and the creation of highly detailed works, which is still popular today. In 2017, the National Gallery of Australia presented an exhibition titled ‘Hyper Real,’ celebrating modern works of sculpture, film and digital art that speak to the theme.18“Hyper Real.” Accessed March 4, 2020. https://nga.gov.au/hyperreal/. Baudrillard’s definition and theory however, sought to simultaneously demarcate and blur the boundaries of true and false, real and imaginary. It has also been a catalyst for science fiction writers drawn to the proposed ideas, most famously the 1999 film ‘The Matrix’.
In ‘The Precession of Simulacra’, he suggests that abstraction is “no longer that of a map, the double, the mirror, or the concept.” He states that the simulation is beyond that of a “territory, a referential being, or a substance.” He views it as the “generation by models of a real without an origin or reality,” which he calls a hyperreal (noun), where in the realm of the hyperreal, the distinction between real and simulation dissolve.19Baudrillard, Jean. Simulations 1st ed. New York City, N.Y., U.S.A: Semiotext(e), 1983.
A few chapters later, and while discussing the topic of holograms, he adds to the polysemous term, using it as an adjective to describe something possessing the qualities of a hyperreal entity.20 Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation (the Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism). 14th ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.
Between 2006 and 2019 an interesting phenomenon occurred in the semantics of this term. On May 21st, 2006, just a little past midnight, a Canadian, possibly from Toronto based on their choice of newspaper, who goes by the alias Abscissa, and with interests in philosophy, religion, ethnobotany, and environmental science,21“User:Abscissa – Wikipedia.” Accessed March 4, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Abscissa. updated the first paragraph of the online Wikipedia definition of hyperreal to read,
“… hyperreality is a way of characterising the way the consciousness interacts with ‘reality’. Specifically, when a consciousness loses its ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, and begins to engage with the latter without understanding what it is doing, it has shifted into the world of the hyperreal.”22“Hyperreality – Wikipedia.” Accessed February 25, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hyperreality&direction=next&oldid=54304527.
Around this time, it was not conventional on Wikipedia entries to cite and verify the inclusion of sources, and for all statements to be backed by a previously published source. Thus this definition entered into papers and books.
In the years to come, Wikipedia tighten its policies, requiring inline citations for any material that may be “challenged or likely to be challenge, and for all quotations, anywhere in article space.”23“Wikipedia:Citing Sources – Wikipedia.” Accessed February 25, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources. The statement went unchallenged for several years, and was modified to add “especially in technologically advanced postmodern cultures.” This was until November 12th, 2019, when another user credited this statement to the book ‘The Future of Post-Human Mass Media: A Preface to a New Theory of Communication’ published in 2009, three years after the initial edit by Abscissa.24“Hyperreality – Wikipedia.” Accessed February 24, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hyperreality&oldid=925812654.
It is on this definition with no original, this hyperreal definition of hyperreal, that I have based the semantic structure of hypervolition. However, naturally of course, with the meaning and history grounded in the source material. In my contribution to this history of the creation of “hyper-” terms, I utilise the interrelated members of the “hyper-” family. These serve as waypoints, or are woven into the fabric of the canvas of ideas that I have stitched together to define the term hypervolition, coined by Jevonne Peters, of the Caribbean, in 2020.