The Impact of Digital Technology on Immersive Fiction Reading

The pleasure of reading digital narrative fiction
resides in our sense of being immersed in a fictional
universe populated by life-like characters, and where
situations and events unfold in a plot allowing us to
reenact the vicissitudes of the story in our minds as
we read. What happens to this sense of immersion when
the narrative consists of animated, interactive,
multimodal text, is displayed on a computer screen,
and when we click on hyperlinks and scroll with a
computer mouse, instead of leafing through the pages
of a print book while reading unyielding text on
paper? This study explores the impact of technical
and material features of the reading device - the
computer and the print book - on our sense of being
emotionally, cognitively, and phenomenologically
immersed in a narrative fiction. Far from being
transparent displays of narratives, the medium and
technology in question play a crucial role for our
reading experience.

Auteur

Anne Mangen, Ph.D., is associate professor in literacy studiesat the National Centre for Reading Education and Research,University of Stavanger, Norway.

Texte du rabat

The pleasure of reading digital narrative fictionresides in our sense of being immersed in a fictionaluniverse populated by life-like characters, and wheresituations and events unfold in a plot allowing us toreenact the vicissitudes of the story in our minds aswe read. What happens to this sense of immersion whenthe narrative consists of animated, interactive,multimodal text, is displayed on a computer screen,and when we click on hyperlinks and scroll with acomputer mouse, instead of leafing through the pagesof a print book while reading unyielding text onpaper? This study explores the impact of technicaland material features of the reading device - thecomputer and the print book - on our sense of beingemotionally, cognitively, and phenomenologicallyimmersed in a narrative fiction. Far from beingtransparent displays of narratives, the medium andtechnology in question play a crucial role for ourreading experience.