narrative

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Narrativeasvirtualreality–Marie-LaureRyan

Twofundamentallydifferentconceptionsofnarrativity:

iveisaformofreprentationthatvarieswithperiodandculture(profiction

thatreferstoindividualexistentsandrelatesmentalorphysicaleventsisautomatically

narrative)

iveisatimelessanduniversalcognitivemodelbywhichwemakenof

temporalexistenceandhumanaction(narrativityrequiresacertainmanticform,and

itsrealizationisamatterofdegree)

GeorgeLandow&IlanaSnyder:Thedevelopmentofinteractivemechanismsisbothanew

wayoftellingstoriesandageneratorofnewnarrativestructures:brokenup,open,without

riandfalltension,unstable,multilinear,multiple,andsoon.

Comparedwiththeliteraryexperimentalists,writersanddesignerswhoworkforthe

commercialctoraremuchmorescepticalofthenarrativepotentialofinteractivemedia.

Thecompatibilityofnarrativityofinteractivityandnarrativityobviouslydependsonhow

ommonusage,narrativecanmeanadiscourreporting

econceived:

rentationofphysicalormentaleventsinvolvingcommonorrelated

participantsandorderedinatemporalquence(=quentialnarrative)

terpretationofeventsinvokingcausality(=causal)

anticstructuremeetingcertainformalrequirements,suchasasalienttheme,

apoint,adevelopmentleadingfromequilibriumtocrisistoanewformofequilibrium,

andariandfallintension(=dramatic)

Thestructuresofinteractivenarrativity

Thecompletegraph:

Pathsarebidirectional

Everynodeislinkedtoeveryothernode,andthereaderhastotalfreedomof

navigation.

Practicallyimpossibletoguaranteenarrativecoherence.

Thenetwork:

Pathscanbeuni-orbidirectional

Thestandardstructureofliteraryhypertext.

Thereader’smovementsareneithercompletelyfreenorlimitedtoasinglecour.

Thetree:

Pathsareunidirectional(fromtoptobottom).Everytraversalproducesawell-formed

plot.

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Controlthereader’sitineraryfromrootnodetoleafnodesandmakeiteasyto

guaranteethatchoiceswillalwaysresultinawell-formedstory.

Thevectorwithsidebranches:

Thetexttellsadeterminatestoryinchronologicalorder,butthestructureoflinks

enablesthereadertotakeshortsidetripstoroadsideattractions.

Thisstructureisparticularlypopularinelectronictextsdesignedforjuvenileaudiences

becauofitscognitivesimplicity.

Thisstructuregivesritoanexperiencethatmaybecomparedwithaguidedtour.

Themaze:

Characteristicofadventuregameswheretheurtriestofindapathfromastarting

pointtoanendpoint.

Theremaybeoneormorewaystoreachthegoal;thegraphmayormaynotallowthe

urtorunincircles,terminalnodesmaybedeadendsorallowbacktracking.

Narrativecoherenceisguaranteedbythefactthatallpathsareattemptstoreacha

certaingoal.

Thedirectednetwork,orflowchart

Thenegativeexperiencesofrunningincirclesandhittingadeadendareeliminatedin

thisnetwork.

Theurisgrantedsomefreedominconnectingthevariousstagesofthejourney.

Thedecisionsmadebytheurinthepastaffecthischoicesinthefuture.

Thehiddenstory:

Thestructureofthointeractivemysterystoriesandcomputergamesthatimplement

theideaofdiscoveringtheprehistoryofthegame-world.

Thismodelconsistsoftwonarrativelevels:atthebottom,thefixed,unilinear,

temporallydirectedstoryoftheeventstobereconstituted;onthetop,theatemporal

networkofchoicesthatdeterminesthereader-detective’sinvestigationoftheca;

betweenthetwo,dottedlinesthatlinkepisodesofdiscoveryinthetopstorytothe

discoveredfactsofthebottomstory.

Thebraidedplot:

Onthediagram,thehorizontalaxisstandsfortimeandtheverticalaxisforspace;

simultaneouventsareverticallyaligned,andeventsthattakeplaceinthesame

rclereprentsaphysicalevent,

cting

onehorizontallineratherthananother,thereaderenterstheprivateworldofaspecific

characterandexperiencesthestoryfromaparticularpointofview.

Actionspace,epicwandering,andstory-world:

Interactivitytakesplaceonthemacrolevelanddramaticplottingonthemicrolevel.

Theurisfreetotakeanyroad,butwhenshereachesasite,thesystemtakescontrol

ofherfateandndsherintoalfcontainedadventure.

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Thismodelabandonstheideaofanoverarchingdramaticnarrativeinfavourofanepic

structureofmiautonomoupisodesinwhichtheurplaysalargelypassiverole.

=Thepotentialofanetworktogeneratewell-formedstoriesforeverytraversalisinverly

proportionaltoitsdegreeofconnectivity.

Empiricalstudieshaveshownthatwhenreadersaremotivatedbythedesiretoknowhowit

ends–theprimordialnarrativedesire–andwhentheycanfindoutbyhittingthereturnkey,

theywillexperiencetheotherlinksasadistractingnuisance.

Anotherwaytoovercomethefundamentalincompatibilityofnarrativityandtheinteractivity

poofclicking

shouldnotbetofindouthowitwillend–printtextsareinfinitelybetteratgeneratingand

satisfyingthislong-termnarrativedesire–but,asthemultimedia,designauthorBobHughes

hassuggested,totriggermicroeventsthatprovideblastsofpleasureandinstantsatisfaction.

Hypertextandimmersion

Threetypesofimmersion:

Temporalimmersion

Interactivityconflictswiththecreationofasustainednarrativedevelopment,and

conquentlywiththeexperienceoftemporalimmersion.

Temporalimmersionrequiresanaccumulationofnarrativeinformation.

Thespecialpowerofinteractivetextstogenerateapluralityofpossibleworldscouldbe

regardedasafeaturethatfacilitatesthecreationofanimmersiveplot.

Oneofthepropertiesthatcontributetotheintrinsictellabilityofastory–anotherterm

fornarrativeimmersivity–isthediversificationofpossibleworldsinthenarrative

univer.

SpatialImmersion

Ofthethreetypesofimmersion,thespatialvarietyevidentlyhasthemosttogainfrom

thebuilt-inspatialityofpictures.

Icannotthinkofamoreefficientwaytocelebratethespiritofaplacethanawell-

designedinteractivenetworkthatcombinesimageswithmusic,poems,shortpro

texts,maps,andhistoricaldocuments.

EmotionalImmersion

EmotionalImmersionrequiresanoftheinexorablecharacteroffate,ofthefinality

ofeveryeventinthecharacter’slife.

Theaestheticambitionofhypertextisanawarenessofthepluralityofworldscontained

inthesystem.

Thefutureofinteractivty

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Theconceptionofhypertextasthesuperpostmodernnovelwasdetrimentaltothenascent

mediumfortworeasons.

ditionallengthofthegenremotivatedhypertextauthorstostartrightawaywith

largecompositionsthatmadeunreasonabledemandsonthereader’sconcentration.

elofnovelcreatedapatternofexpectationsthatsubordinatedlocalmeaning

toaglobalnarrativestructure,andeventhoughthisstructurehardlyevermaterialid,

itspursuitdistractedreadersfromthepoeticqualitiesoftheindividuallexias.

Abandoningthemodelofthenovelwouldallowhypertexttoexploretwoavenues:

interestmorestronglytothelocallevel,byworkingwithrelativelylf-contained

lexiassuchaspoems,aphorisms,anecdotes,shortnarrativeepisodes,orprovocative

thoughts.

ontheideaofanautonomous“literary”genreandtakegreateradvantageof

themultimediacapabilityoftheelectronicenvironment.

Inamultimedialenvironment,theinstantaneousnofprencethatcanbeachieved

throughvisualdocumentsorthroughtheintenlypersonalmodulationsofahumanvoice

providesawaytocompensateforthelossofimmersivitythatresultsfromthefragmented

structureoftheworkasawhole.

BysuggestingthatelectronicliteraturetaketheconceptualrouteIdonotwishtosaythat

interactivityperisoneofthodevicesthatshouldbeudonlyonce,butratherthatthe

electronicmediumcanbepowerfultoolkitfortheproductionofone-of-a-kindtextualforms

ofthemareliterallyinteractive,buttheyareall

dynamic,andtheyallputthevisualandkineticpropertiesoftheirmediumintherviceofa

preciides,oftentheliteralizationofawell-knownmetaphor:

Thetextasantiobject,ortheworkthatcannotbereread.

Youbringasmuchtothetextasyougetfromit.

Readingasincompleteprocessandrandomlection.

Thetextaspalimpst.

Literalizingthenotionoftextualspace.

Theinstabilityofmeaning.