I first came across this picture in a very different context. While reading Meadow’s description of the term narrative “as an individuals’ perspective on the surrounding landscape,” I instantly recalled it. Here’s what I initially saw in the picture: a white, goblet-shaped object. However, on staring hard and long enough, I discovered a completely different image: two facing silhouettes of human profiles. Either I could see the white goblet or the profiles but never both together. The differences underlying both these perspectives could be useful in understanding of Meadow’s claim that perspectives give birth to narratives: “this is why narrative exists: to convey perspectives.”Another good example is Kurosawa’s Rashomon in which four different characters offer four unique perspectives on the same incident. Each of their narratives is defined by a character’s personal viewpoint on an event. None of the four characters share the same perspective with the result that we are presented with four parallel and conflicting narratives each of which are nonetheless true and representative of the original event.
Coming to interactive narratives I personally believe that all narratives (text/hypertext) are inherently interactive. The reader collaborates with the author to give an ultimate meaning to a book. With any given narrative, no two readers will read it in the same way. There are bound to be differences. Just as an author conveys a perspective through his/her work, similarly readers too attribute their own perspective to a book. In the context of hypertextual narratives, the nature of collaboration between the designer and the reader becomes more complex and visible. While the designer must seek ways of delegating equal authority to the readers, the readers are confronted with a bewildering range of options—there are no definite entry and exit points into the narrative. Said another way, Lewis Carrol’s advice “begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end, then stop” no longer holds true. The audience of hypertext consumes narratives in a non-linear fashion so that the narrative should support this kind of interaction, allowing information to be understood in random sequence. To reinforce my point further, I would like to draw on Ronald Barthes's concept of “readerly” and “writerly” texts. In his 1970 book S/Z, Barthes observed that there are essentially two types of texts—one in which the reader takes on an active role in the construction of meaning (writerly texts) and one in which the reader acts as a passive recipient of information (readerly text). Although this conceptual distinction is more pertinent to regular textual narratives, it could be equally illuminating in understanding the role of the author-reader interaction in hyper textual narratives.
One website that makes good use of interactivity is JK Rowling’s official website. The website not only offers an interactive narrative but also a meta narrative, one that ostensibly provides us fleeting glimpses into the creative thought process behind the Harry Potter series. As far as selecting a narrative for my personal homepage goes, I am still not decided. However, since I am aiming at a professional website, I would like to build a narrative centered on my expertise as a TC graduate.
My question for this week: Is interaction an essential element of all narratives? Or is it an extraneous function?
2 comments:
Sharba,
The idea of "writerly" text versus "readerly" is an interesting distinction. I'll make sure to check out the source. Thanks!
My initial thoughts on that: We do all sorts of reading for merely informational purposes. When driving, for example, I can read a "stop" sign and know what to do (and to start again, without any further textual prompt). It might be a stretch to say that is part of my personal narrative. But then again, it's the linear progression of a simple story (me getting through the intersection), and if, say, I was crushed by a semi truck seconds after I went through that stop sign, that would be a pretty important part of my story (raising questions about if I came to a complete stop before crossing, if I was talking on my cell phone at the same time, if I was switching radio stations, or trying to change CDs, etc.) and then what the other driver was doing is the other perspective in this. But even if I made it through the intersection, is this a form of narrative (albeit not a very interesting one). And how exactly is a narrative created? By someone reading something? That seems somewhat interactive to me in all variations. You have to think to read. That stimulus (the text) is making you interact (by thinking). In addition, virtually every sentence has contextual clues built into it that allows comprehension (what language it is in; what situation is it explaining; what was said before it and what comes after it; what do we need to bring to the text to understand it). ... Yet the term narrative also has to have some meaning beyond just a person reading words.
I'm involved in a fabulous listserv called WriterL, www.writerl.com,. moderated by the Franklins, Jon (a two-time Pulitzer prize-winning reporter) and Lynn (also a prominent writer), and among the many topics discussed there regularly is the nature of narrative and its place in nonfiction writing. They define the term very simply, something like a story with a beginning, middle and end (I'm not quoting that directly). I think it's a bit more complicated of a term, involving passage of time and point of view and a few other things. Is interaction another inherent characteristic of narrative? Thanks for raising the idea.
- Brett Oppegaard
So is the trick, then, to create entry points for users so that they might see or interact with a single website in different ways? Sounds basic, but it can be very complex, especially when multiple cultures are involved. Are there sites in India, for instance, that would put off an American audience, and vice-versa? What is interaction? Isn't it, in a way, engagement? Interaction doesn't always have to mean action in the sense of writing a retort, but it does mean invested experience in some capacity.
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