1. Multivariant Narratives
Marie-Laure Ryan

3. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...

4. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...
★Summary of Multivariant Narratives

5. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...
★Summary of Multivariant Narratives
★Critique

6. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...
★Summary of Multivariant Narratives
★Critique
★Position the article in broader context

7. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...
★Summary of Multivariant Narratives
★Critique
★Position the article in broader context
★View some examples

8. Once upon a time, Dan gave a
presentation to ARIN6912...
★Summary of Multivariant Narratives
★Critique
★Position the article in broader context
★View some examples
★Discussion

10. Summary:

11. Summary:
★ The way we tell and read stories is related to their
material mediums

12. Summary:
★ The way we tell and read stories is related to their
material mediums
★ Emergence of digital media coincides with a crisis
in literature around truth and authority

13. Summary:
★ The way we tell and read stories is related to their
material mediums
★ Emergence of digital media coincides with a crisis
in literature around truth and authority
★ Digital media present new opportunities for the
development of multivariant narratives

14. Summary:
★ The way we tell and read stories is related to their
material mediums
★ Emergence of digital media coincides with a crisis
in literature around truth and authority
★ Digital media present new opportunities for the
development of multivariant narratives
★ BUT, “the creation of multivariant narratives
depends on the existence of protocols that
maintain linear coherence on the cognitive level…”

15. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative

16. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative
★ Narrative: “medium-free, semantically
based definition, according to which
narrative is a type of meaning or mental
image generated in response to certain

17. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative
★ Narrative: “medium-free, semantically
based definition, according to which
narrative is a type of meaning or mental
image generated in response to certain
★ Narrative script: “pictures a world situated in
time and populated by intelligent agents” and
the time span frames various states with
accidental and/or deliberate actions

18. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative
★ Narrative: “medium-free, semantically
based definition, according to which
narrative is a type of meaning or mental
image generated in response to certain
★ Narrative script: “pictures a world situated in
time and populated by intelligent agents” and
the time span frames various states with
accidental and/or deliberate actions
★ Narrativity commonly lives in texts but can
emerge from stimuli that are not narrative
texts (eg from life itself)

19. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative
★ Narrative: “medium-free, semantically
based definition, according to which
narrative is a type of meaning or mental
image generated in response to certain
★ Narrative script: “pictures a world situated in
time and populated by intelligent agents” and
the time span frames various states with
accidental and/or deliberate actions
★ Narrativity commonly lives in texts but can
emerge from stimuli that are not narrative
texts (eg from life itself)
★ Narrative is not only linear (or possibly multi-
linear), but vectoral, must be followed from
beginning to end.

20. Ryan’s Definition of Narrative
★ Narrative: “medium-free, semantically
based definition, according to which
narrative is a type of meaning or mental
image generated in response to certain
★ Narrative script: “pictures a world situated in
time and populated by intelligent agents” and
the time span frames various states with
accidental and/or deliberate actions
★ Narrativity commonly lives in texts but can
emerge from stimuli that are not narrative
texts (eg from life itself)
★ Narrative is not only linear (or possibly multi-
linear), but vectoral, must be followed from
beginning to end.
★ Narrative can be told (diegetic mode), Shown
(mimetic mode), Enacted (embodied mode?)

21. THE HISTORY OF WRITING

22. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age

23. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age

24. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age

25. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age

26. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...

27. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique

28. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique

29. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable

30. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience

31. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience

32. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed

33. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent

34. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent

35. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent durable

36. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent durable

37. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent durable evanescent/durable

38. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent durable evanescent/durable
Digital texts are durable in that they are recorded
but subject to unstable platforms.

39. THE HISTORY OF WRITING
1. Oral Age
2. Chirographic Age
3. Print Age
4. Digital Age
material support of language moves...
unique freely copiable
Live audience Widely distributed
evanescent durable evanescent/durable

41. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.

42. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
★ Narrative length increased.
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.

43. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
★ Narrative length increased.
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.

44. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.

45. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.

46. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.
C20th
Epistemological
Crisis of Authority

47. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.
C20th
Epistemological
Crisis of Authority

48. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.
Pre-digital Experiments
in Multivariant Narrative
C20th
Epistemological
Crisis of Authority

49. Oral Cultures (see Ong, 1982)
★ Narrative as mnemonic device for knowledge transmission
★ Facilitated by prosodic features (eg rhyme, metre, alliteration), story formulas,
standardised images, etc.
★ Unit permutation possible.
Written Cultures (first manuscipts, later facilitated by print)
★ Epic, permutable plots frozen in fixed sequence.
★ Mnemonic devices made obsolete.
Narrative length increased.
The Novel
★
★ Spatiality of the page enables use of layout, font, graphics, etc.
Pre-digital Experiments
in Multivariant Narrative
“...the idea of making the text endlessly self-
C20th
renewable, of capturing infinity in its
necessarily bounded body, of turning the work
Epistemological
of art from a static self-identical object into a Crisis of Authority
matrix of possibilities.”

50. C20th Experiments:

51. C20th Experiments:
★ 1920s Dada Poetry

52. C20th Experiments:
★ 1920s Dada Poetry
★ 1941: “The Garden of Forking Paths” by JL Borges

53. C20th Experiments:
★ 1920s Dada Poetry
★ 1941: “The Garden of Forking Paths” by JL Borges
★ 1960ish: Cut-up Technique

54. C20th Experiments:
★ 1920s Dada Poetry
★ 1941: “The Garden of Forking Paths” by JL Borges
★ 1960ish: Cut-up Technique
★ 1960 - Present: OuLiPo

55. C20th Experiments:
★ 1920s Dada Poetry
★ 1941: “The Garden of Forking Paths” by JL Borges
★ 1960ish: Cut-up Technique
★ 1960 - Present: OuLiPo

56. Limits of pre-digital attempts at
multivariant narrative:

57. Limits of pre-digital attempts at
multivariant narrative:
1. Theorised but did not deliver mulivariance (eg Borges)

58. Limits of pre-digital attempts at
multivariant narrative:
1. Theorised but did not deliver mulivariance (eg Borges)
2. Relied on “chunking”, which can be aleatory (eg Cut-up)

59. Limits of pre-digital attempts at
multivariant narrative:
1. Theorised but did not deliver mulivariance (eg Borges)
2. Relied on “chunking”, which can be aleatory (eg Cut-up)
3. Relied on branching, which has limited possible outcomes
and maintains authorial control (eg Choose Your Own
Adventure)

60. The Digital Era

61. The Digital Era
★ Computer as more than just a medium for transmission
or production of print texts

62. The Digital Era
★ Computer as more than just a medium for transmission
or production of print texts
★ Digital narrative is shaped by both the material medium
(hardware), and the “affordances of the system through
which it is created and executed” (software)

63. The Digital Era
★ Computer as more than just a medium for transmission
or production of print texts
★ Digital narrative is shaped by both the material medium
(hardware), and the “affordances of the system through
which it is created and executed” (software)
★ Digital texts can be kaleidoscopic (Murray 1997),
producing a vast number of versions from a limited
number of elements

64. The Digital Era
★ Computer as more than just a medium for transmission
or production of print texts
★ Digital narrative is shaped by both the material medium
(hardware), and the “affordances of the system through
which it is created and executed” (software)
★ Digital texts can be kaleidoscopic (Murray 1997),
producing a vast number of versions from a limited
number of elements
★ Digital technology presents opportunity for the
development because it allows for conditional branching
of plot lines:
IF...THEN...ELSE - GOTO

65. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)

66. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven

67. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive

68. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive
3. performantial aspect

69. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive
3. performantial aspect
4. multimedia

70. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive
3. performantial aspect
4. multimedia
5. network capability

71. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive
3. performantial aspect
4. multimedia
5. network capability
6. volatile signs

72. Properties of Digital Media
(relevant to narrative & textuality)
1.
algorithm driven
2. reactive & interactive
3. performantial aspect
4. multimedia
5. network capability
6. volatile signs
7. modularity

73. 3 Aspects of
Variable Narrative:

74. 3 Aspects of
Variable Narrative:
★Variable Discourse

75. 3 Aspects of
Variable Narrative:
★Variable Discourse
★Variable Point of View

76. 3 Aspects of
Variable Narrative:
★Variable Discourse
★Variable Point of View
★Variable Plot

77. Variable Discourse:

78. Variable Discourse:
★ Narrative organisation that allows the reader multiple
possible paths through a system of story fragments

79. Variable Discourse:
★ Narrative organisation that allows the reader multiple
possible paths through a system of story fragments
★ Key example is hypertext, a form of Interactive Fiction

80. Variable Discourse:
★ Narrative organisation that allows the reader multiple
possible paths through a system of story fragments
★ Key example is hypertext, a form of Interactive Fiction
★ Author can exert control on the local decisions of a
reader (take option A or B), but not the global (the
meaning the reader assembles from the combination of
their decisions)

81. Variable Discourse:
★ Narrative organisation that allows the reader multiple
possible paths through a system of story fragments
★ Key example is hypertext, a form of Interactive Fiction
★ Author can exert control on the local decisions of a
reader (take option A or B), but not the global (the
meaning the reader assembles from the combination of
their decisions)
★ Reader rarely reconstructs the entire narrative because
they don’t visit every node

82. Variable Discourse:
★ Narrative organisation that allows the reader multiple
possible paths through a system of story fragments
★ Key example is hypertext, a form of Interactive Fiction
★ Author can exert control on the local decisions of a
reader (take option A or B), but not the global (the
meaning the reader assembles from the combination of
their decisions)
★ Reader rarely reconstructs the entire narrative because
they don’t visit every node
★ Hypertext most successful when navigation of fragments
has significance in relation to the text (eg Patchwork Girl,
Victory Garden)

83. Variable Point of View:

84. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives

85. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives
★ Key examples: some hypertexts, Interactive TV

86. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives
★ Key examples: some hypertexts, Interactive TV
★ Can be used to illustrate subjectivity (eg A Long Wild Smile)

87. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives
★ Key examples: some hypertexts, Interactive TV
★ Can be used to illustrate subjectivity (eg A Long Wild Smile)
★ Shift in POV commonly seen in video games, can
facilitate different modes of play (eg bird’s eye view for
strategy vs first person for combat

88. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives
★ Key examples: some hypertexts, Interactive TV
★ Can be used to illustrate subjectivity (eg A Long Wild Smile)
★ Shift in POV commonly seen in video games, can
facilitate different modes of play (eg bird’s eye view for
strategy vs first person for combat
?!

89. Variable Point of View:
★ Reader has access to various characters’ perspectives
★ Key examples: some hypertexts, Interactive TV
★ Can be used to illustrate subjectivity (eg A Long Wild Smile)
★ Shift in POV commonly seen in video games, can
facilitate different modes of play (eg bird’s eye view for
strategy vs first person for combat
?!
★ Shift of POV in games is almost never shift in focalisation
from one character to another - different category
needed here?

90. Variable Plot
★ Multiple outcomes, multiple paths for reaching them
★ Digital media allows for the development of simple
decision tree format of IF (interactivity purely selective)
by allowing selective and productive user input
★ 3 examples: Interactive Fiction, First Person Shooters,
God Games

91. Interactive Fiction

92. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances

93. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances
★ “the only room for variation lies in the player’s
unsuccessful attempts”

94. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances
★ “the only room for variation lies in the player’s
unsuccessful attempts”
★ May have multiple outcomes (ie plot variation)

95. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances
★ “the only room for variation lies in the player’s
unsuccessful attempts”
★ May have multiple outcomes (ie plot variation)
★ Low re-playability

96. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances
★ “the only room for variation lies in the player’s
unsuccessful attempts”
★ May have multiple outcomes (ie plot variation)
★ Low re-playability
★ Primitive example: Zork

97. Interactive Fiction
★ Parsing software interprets user input, responds based
on affordances
★ “the only room for variation lies in the player’s
unsuccessful attempts”
★ May have multiple outcomes (ie plot variation)
★ Low re-playability
★ Primitive example: Zork
★ AI Example: Facade

98. First Person Shooter

99. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator

100. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity

101. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
★ High re-playability

102. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
★ High re-playability
★ Low recountability

103. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
?!
★ High re-playability
★ Low recountability

104. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
?!
★ High re-playability Why are these
important values?
★ Low recountability

105. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
?!
★ High re-playability Why are these
important values?
★ Low recountability

106. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
?!
★ High re-playability Why are these
important values?
★ Low recountability

107. First Person Shooter
★ “Life Story” of the character is enacted, rather than
recounted by narrator
★ Plot is infinitely variable within a very limited diversity
?!
★ High re-playability Why are these
important values?
★ Low recountability
★ Example: CounterStrike

108. God Game

109. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity

110. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)

111. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)
★ “The ludic pleasure of deciphering the logic of the
system...cannot be separated from the narrative pleasure
of watching the story unfold.”

112. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)
★ “The ludic pleasure of deciphering the logic of the
system...cannot be separated from the narrative pleasure
of watching the story unfold.”
★ Ryan argues balance of replayability & recountability

113. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)
★ “The ludic pleasure of deciphering the logic of the
system...cannot be separated from the narrative pleasure
of watching the story unfold.”
★ Ryan argues balance of replayability & recountability
★ Example: Civilization

114. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)
★ “The ludic pleasure of deciphering the logic of the
system...cannot be separated from the narrative pleasure
of watching the story unfold.”
★ Ryan argues balance of replayability & recountability
★ Example: Civilization
?!

115. God Game
★ Creates a dynamic model of a complex entity
★ World evolves as a result of interrelated actions of agents
in the world (human or machine)
★ “The ludic pleasure of deciphering the logic of the
system...cannot be separated from the narrative pleasure
of watching the story unfold.”
★ Ryan argues balance of replayability & recountability
★ Example: Civilization
?! Is this an example of emergent narrativity,
rather than an example of a narrative text?

116. General Critiques

117. General Critiques
★ Inconsistent focus on print text as the subject of the
inquiry. Only print examples of pre-digital multivariance are
offered, but selectively appeals to visual, procedural,
embodied digital texts

118. General Critiques
★ Inconsistent focus on print text as the subject of the
inquiry. Only print examples of pre-digital multivariance are
offered, but selectively appeals to visual, procedural,
embodied digital texts
★ Linear nature of narrative temporality is argued selectively,

119. General Critiques
★ Inconsistent focus on print text as the subject of the
inquiry. Only print examples of pre-digital multivariance are
offered, but selectively appeals to visual, procedural,
embodied digital texts
★ Linear nature of narrative temporality is argued selectively,
★ Game knowledge seems dilettante-ish, fetishises
narrative over ludic values.

120. General Critiques
★ Inconsistent focus on print text as the subject of the
inquiry. Only print examples of pre-digital multivariance are
offered, but selectively appeals to visual, procedural,
embodied digital texts
★ Linear nature of narrative temporality is argued selectively,
★ Game knowledge seems dilettante-ish, fetishises
narrative over ludic values.
★ Does not take into account meta-narratives (including
parallel, alternate narratives)

121. Theoretical Context

122. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)

123. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?

124. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?
★If some games have narratives, and narrative fiction
is becoming interactive, how far can existing models
of narratology go towards analysing them? What new
models arise?

125. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?
★If some games have narratives, and narrative fiction
is becoming interactive, how far can existing models
of narratology go towards analysing them? What new
models arise?
Convergence Culture/Transmedia (Jenkins)

126. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?
★If some games have narratives, and narrative fiction
is becoming interactive, how far can existing models
of narratology go towards analysing them? What new
models arise?
Convergence Culture/Transmedia (Jenkins)
★How do narratives operate across, as well as within
texts and platforms?

127. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?
★If some games have narratives, and narrative fiction
is becoming interactive, how far can existing models
of narratology go towards analysing them? What new
models arise?
Convergence Culture/Transmedia (Jenkins)
★How do narratives operate across, as well as within
texts and platforms?
Beyond Postmodern Deconstruction (?)

128. Theoretical Context
Narratology vs Ludology debates (Juul, Bogost, Murray...)
★What’s a game?
★If some games have narratives, and narrative fiction
is becoming interactive, how far can existing models
of narratology go towards analysing them? What new
models arise?
Convergence Culture/Transmedia (Jenkins)
★How do narratives operate across, as well as within
texts and platforms?
Beyond Postmodern Deconstruction (?)
★ SO WHAT? How does textual/narrative innovation
promote social justice/progress/development?