Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media by Marie-Laure Ryan (review)

Abstract

TES,34, 2004 TES,34, 2004 277 277 For many working within the field of children's literature,this book will come as a welcome addition to an expanding corpus. But it will do so precisely to the extent that this field continues to welcome what is essentiallythe same old critical methodology as if it were something new and radical. The claim that such work is 'informed by theorists'is not one that should be made lightly and it should be seriouslychallenged. Tacking odd 'poststructural' terms piecemeal onto a discourse that is structurallyuntouched by anything like 'poststructuralism' does nothing to advance either traditionalliterarycriticismor theory, but serves to confuse both. UNIVERSITY OFREADING STEPHEN THOMSON Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion andInteractivity inLiterature andElectronic Media.By MARIE-LAURE RYAN.(Parallax:Re-Visions of Culture and Society) Baltimore, MD, and London:Johns Hopkins University Press. 2001. xiii + 399 pp. ?31. ISBN: 0-8018-6487-9. Narrative as Virtual Reality examines the cultureof immersionand interactivitywithin the realm of the virtual and virtuality. Marie-Laure Ryan, like many writers of cyberculture,draws upon a multitude of disciplinesto present a pre/trans/ history of tomorrow. Part I introduces the idea of the 'virtual'as an 'optical sense, which carries the negative connotations of double illusions'and the other which suggests'productivity , openness, and diversity'(p. 27).Ryan discusseseach as 'the virtualas fake'using Jean Baudrillard'stheories and Pierre Levy's interpretationof the 'the virtual as potential'. The term 'virtual'extends into the 'real' itself. Everything from automated teller machines that fulfil the function of a bank teller in a virtualmode, to phone sex, email, and shopping online- has been dubbed 'virtual'.The interplay between the real and the virtualis extended to our minds and bodies as Ryan interprets virtual reality as 'an active system of simulation'(p. 62) through its presence, immersion, and interactivity. PartII deals with the poetics of immersionas the apotheosisof virtualculture.In a way VR is refashioning the computer into a processor of perceptions. Virtual realityprovidesa phenomenology to go along with the epistemologyof autopoiesis. The idea of immersion is not restrictedto the computer age but to literaryauthors such as Charlotte Bronte, Conrad, Calvino among others, who set the stage for a sustainedexploration of the problems and possibilitiesof engagement within artificial , simulatedenvironments.Ryan discusseswhat it means in semantic and logical terms to be transportedinto the virtual reality of a textual world. She goes on to explain how they are tied to an ontological model that acknowledgesa pluralityof possible worlds inspired by the pioneering work of Umberto Eco, Thomas Pavel, and Lubomir Dolezel. What intrigued me the most was Ryan's descriptionof the emotional aspect of immersionwhich entailsthe contemplationof purelyimaginary states of affairsas an evolutionaryasset that works towardsthe preservationof the species (p. I56). This interplayof immersive and interactiveenvironmentsis clearly defined by Ryan in the use of computer-game culture and hypertext. Gamers are co-authors who take part in the experience as virtual communities that exist as playing fields for social interaction. Players can enjoy true social interaction with other participants in real time - form adventuring parties, engage in battle with other players, take on perilous quests, or chat in a tavern over a goblet of virtual wine. The proliferation of simulations into all walks of life has For many working within the field of children's literature,this book will come as a welcome addition to an expanding corpus. But it will do so precisely to the extent that this field continues to welcome what is essentiallythe same old critical methodology as if it were something new and radical. The claim that such work is 'informed by theorists'is not one that should be made lightly and it should be seriouslychallenged. Tacking odd 'poststructural' terms piecemeal onto a discourse that is structurallyuntouched by anything like 'poststructuralism' does nothing to advance either traditionalliterarycriticismor theory, but serves to confuse both. UNIVERSITY OFREADING STEPHEN THOMSON Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion andInteractivity inLiterature andElectronic Media.By MARIE-LAURE RYAN.(Parallax:Re-Visions of Culture and Society) Baltimore, MD, and London:Johns Hopkins University Press. 2001. xiii + 399 pp. ?31. ISBN: 0-8018-6487-9. Narrative as Virtual Reality examines the cultureof immersionand interactivitywithin the realm of the virtual and...