LCC 63174720 Interactive Narrative Lecture 5

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LCC 6317/4720 Interactive NarrativeLecture 5

• February 3, 2005

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Poor mans narratology

• Narratology a structuralist analysis of
  narrative
• Enabling move separating the objective story
  from the presented story
• Story/fabula The objective sequence of events
  that constitutes the story
• Discourse/sjuzhet The presentation of the story
  (always involves manipulation)
• Diegesis The story world, the time-space
  continuum of the story (the story is a sequences
  of events in the diegetic world)
• Narration the mechanics by which the discourse
  is produced from the story (e.g. third vs. first
  person etc.)

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The narrative situation
Diegetic universe
Story
Focalization
Discourse
analepsis (flash-back)
prolepsis (flash-forward)
Interpretation
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The gaming situation
Game universe
Action sequence
Configurable elements


Interpretation
Configuration (goals)
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Observation
Diegetic universe
Game universe
Configurable elements
Action sequence
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Story
?
Focalization
Interpretation
Configuration (goals)
Discourse
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analepsis (flash-back)
prolepsis (flash-forward)
Interpretation

• The narrative and game situation are different
• Therefore games are not narratives
• And interactive narrative is impossible?!?

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Modes of narrative interaction

• External/exploratory
• Internal/exploratory
• External/ontological
• Internal/ontological

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Games are higher-order stories

• With games we can extend virtuality one step
  further. The player perform actions which, were
  he to reflect upon them, would form a dramatic
  plot-though this plot is not normally his focus
  of attention during the heat of the action. Games
  thus embody a virtualized, or potential dramatic
  narrativity, which itself hinges on the virtual
  diegetic narrativity of a retelling that may
  never take place.