>[!abstract] >Ergodic literature is a term coined by Espen J. Aarseth in his 1997 book *Cybertext—Perspectives on Ergodic Literature* to describe literature in which nontrivial effort is required for the reader to traverse the text. The term is derived from the Greek words ergon, meaning "work", and hodos, meaning "path". It is associated with the concept of cybertext and describes a cybertextual process that includes a semiotic sequence that the concepts of "reading" do not account for (Wikipedia, 2025). >[!quote] >In ergodic literature, nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text. If ergodic literature is to make sense as a concept, there must also be nonergodic literature, where the effort to traverse the text is trivial, with no extranoematic (*occurring outside of the confines of human thought*) responsibilities placed on the reader except (for example) eye movement and the periodic or arbitrary turning of pages ([[Aarseth, 1997|Aarseth, 1997, pp. 1–2]]). *House of Leaves* is a classic example of ergodic literature. I would consider [[Gödel, Escher, Bach]] to be another. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[Ergodicity]] >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —