KEIN SCHNELLERES PFERDWARUM INTERAKTIVE NARRATION NICHT EINFACH DIE ERWEITERUNG VON NARRATION UM INTERAKTION IST, UND WARUM DAS GUT IST

MUSEUM FÜR KOMMUNIKATION FRANKFURT, 2.5.2019

HARTMUT KOENITZ @HKOENITZ

NARRATION GESCHICHTE IM SINN VON GESCHICHTE EINES FILMS ODER EINES ROMANS

INTERAKTIVE DIGITALE NARRATION

WAS IST IDN EIN ANDERER ZUGANG ZU NARRATION ZU WAS IST IDN GUT REPRÄSENTATION VON KOMPLEXITÄT AUSBLICK AN WAS MÜSSEN WIR NOCH ARBEITEN

HARTMUT KOENITZ

WISSENSCHAFTLER, DESIGNER, KÜNSTLER, AUTOMECHANIKER…

DOKTORTITEL (PHD) IN DIGITAL MEDIA, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ATLANTA, USA ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

WERKE ASAPS AUTHORING SOFTWARE ÜBER 60 WISSENSCHAFTLICHE PUBLIKATIONEN KUNSTWERKE AUSGESTELLT IN ATLANTA, PARIS, KOPENHAGEN, PORTO

PROFESSOR INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN

PROFESSORSHIP TEAM

WAS IST INTERAKTIVE DIGITALE NARRATION (IDN)?

WENN ICH DIE LEUTE GEFRAGT HÄTTE, WAS SIE WOLLEN, HÄTTEN SIE GESAGT “SCHNELLERE PFERDE”

Henry Ford

WAS IST NARRATION?

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agency and interesting replay. Recurring to Aristotle therefore seems to be an altogether unwarranted move from the perspective of video game narratives.

The other supposed source for the ‘story arc’ is Gustav Freytag’s book on the “Art of the Drama” (Freytag, 1863). Freytag is concerned with the “architecture of stage play” (“Der Bau des Dramas” (Freytag, 1863, p. 91)). The structure he uncovers is symmetrical, with the climax at the midpoint. (Fig. 1), however, the idea of a “story arc,” is nowhere to be found.

Figure 1: Freytag’s original pyramid shape.

This symmetrical diagram differs markedly from later conceptions, e.g. the one (Fig. 2) found in Brenda Laurel’s Computers as Theatre (1991).

Figure 2: Story arc in Computers as Theatre (Laurel, 1991)

Finally, I resort to a historical approach. And indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary seems to provide an answer. It lists the first proper occurrence as “arc of story” in 1978:

1978 G. Stewart in ELH 45 483 In the proliferated death scenes of Bleak House, Dickens brings death as never before into the pages that intervene between the implied oblivion before and after the arc of story, the unvoiced voids of narrative. (OED Online, n.d.)

Therefore, in relation to Aristotle and Freytag, ‘story arc’ is a ghost-like existence, “used primarily by non-scholar production and fan communities,” (Lunenfeld, 2010) as “shorthand,” albeit with different meanings in the contexts of “serialized forms,” “interactive games” and film. The leap towards a universal structure of narrative is considerable and the inclusion of a loose interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics (and

NARRATION

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agency and interesting replay. Recurring to Aristotle therefore seems to be an altogether unwarranted move from the perspective of video game narratives.

The other supposed source for the ‘story arc’ is Gustav Freytag’s book on the “Art of the Drama” (Freytag, 1863). Freytag is concerned with the “architecture of stage play” (“Der Bau des Dramas” (Freytag, 1863, p. 91)). The structure he uncovers is symmetrical, with the climax at the midpoint. (Fig. 1), however, the idea of a “story arc,” is nowhere to be found.

Figure 1: Freytag’s original pyramid shape.

This symmetrical diagram differs markedly from later conceptions, e.g. the one (Fig. 2) found in Brenda Laurel’s Computers as Theatre (1991).

Figure 2: Story arc in Computers as Theatre (Laurel, 1991)

Finally, I resort to a historical approach. And indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary seems to provide an answer. It lists the first proper occurrence as “arc of story” in 1978:

1978 G. Stewart in ELH 45 483 In the proliferated death scenes of Bleak House, Dickens brings death as never before into the pages that intervene between the implied oblivion before and after the arc of story, the unvoiced voids of narrative. (OED Online, n.d.)

Therefore, in relation to Aristotle and Freytag, ‘story arc’ is a ghost-like existence, “used primarily by non-scholar production and fan communities,” (Lunenfeld, 2010) as “shorthand,” albeit with different meanings in the contexts of “serialized forms,” “interactive games” and film. The leap towards a universal structure of narrative is considerable and the inclusion of a loose interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics (and

+

NARRATION + INTERAKTION

+

PFERD + SPOILER

WAS SIND DIE ERGEBNISSE?

VIDEO GAMES ARE BETTER WITHOUT STORIES. FILM, TELEVISION, AND LITERATURE ALL TELL THEM BETTER.

Ian Bogost, 2017

VIDEO SPIELE SIND OHNE GESCHICHTEN BESSER. FILM, FERNSEHEN, UND LITERATUR ERZÄHLEN SIE BESSER

Ian Bogost, 2017

JA UND NEIN

JA TRADITIONELLE MEDIEN KÖNNEN TRADITIONELLE GESCHICHTEN BESSER ERZÄHLEN

NEIN BEI IDN GEHT ES UM ANDERE ARTEN VON NARRATION

IDN ≠ +

IDN IST EINE NEUE ART VON NARRATION

"YOU CAN'T THINK OF IT IN TERMS OF PREVIOUS MEDIUMS BECAUSE IT'S SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT,“

MAUREEN FAN ON NARRATIVES IN VR, BAOBAB STUDIOS, 22.11.2017

"MAN KANN NICHT IN DEN KATEGORIEN FRÜHERER MEDIEN DENKEN, DA SIE VÖLLIG ANDERS SIND”

MAUREEN FAN ÜBER NARRATION IN VR, BAOBAB STUDIOS, 22.11.2017

KEIN SCHNELLERES PFERD

WAS IST

NARRATION?

NARRATIVE [IS] A FORGIVING, FLEXIBLE COGNITIVE FRAME FOR CONSTRUCTING, COMMUNICATING, AND RECONSTRUCTING MENTALLY PROJECTED WORLDS

David Herman, 2002

NARRATION [IST] EIN FEHLERTOLERANTER, FELXIBLER, KOGNITIVER RAHMEN ZUM KONSTRUIEREN, KOMMUNIZIEREN, UND REKONSTRUIEREN VON MENTAL PROJIZIERTEN WELTEN

David Herman, 2002

NARRATION IST EINE FUNKTION DES GEHIRNS ZUM VERSTEHEN SIE IST NICHT AN EINE BESTIMMTE FORM GEBUNDEN

ES EXISTIEREN VIELE ARTEN VON NARRATION DIE VOM ALS UNIVERSAL ANGENOMMENEN EUROZENTRISCHEN MODEL ABWEICHEN

ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVE STRUKTUREN

KISHOTENKETSU AFRIKANISCHE FORM MÜNDLICHEN GESCHICHTENERZÄHLENS

CECI N’EST PAS UN MODÈLE UNIVERSELLE NARRATIF

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agency and interesting replay. Recurring to Aristotle therefore seems to be an altogether unwarranted move from the perspective of video game narratives.

The other supposed source for the ‘story arc’ is Gustav Freytag’s book on the “Art of the Drama” (Freytag, 1863). Freytag is concerned with the “architecture of stage play” (“Der Bau des Dramas” (Freytag, 1863, p. 91)). The structure he uncovers is symmetrical, with the climax at the midpoint. (Fig. 1), however, the idea of a “story arc,” is nowhere to be found.

Figure 1: Freytag’s original pyramid shape.

This symmetrical diagram differs markedly from later conceptions, e.g. the one (Fig. 2) found in Brenda Laurel’s Computers as Theatre (1991).

Figure 2: Story arc in Computers as Theatre (Laurel, 1991)

Finally, I resort to a historical approach. And indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary seems to provide an answer. It lists the first proper occurrence as “arc of story” in 1978:

1978 G. Stewart in ELH 45 483 In the proliferated death scenes of Bleak House, Dickens brings death as never before into the pages that intervene between the implied oblivion before and after the arc of story, the unvoiced voids of narrative. (OED Online, n.d.)

Therefore, in relation to Aristotle and Freytag, ‘story arc’ is a ghost-like existence, “used primarily by non-scholar production and fan communities,” (Lunenfeld, 2010) as “shorthand,” albeit with different meanings in the contexts of “serialized forms,” “interactive games” and film. The leap towards a universal structure of narrative is considerable and the inclusion of a loose interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics (and

KOENITZ, H., DI PASTENA, A., JANSEN, D., DE LINT, B., MOSS, A. (2018) THE MYTH OF ‘UNIVERSAL’ NARRATIVE MODELS: EXPANDING THE DESIGN SPACE OF NARRATIVE STRUCTURES FOR IDN, ICIDS 2018, CHAM: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING

4.2 Bengali Widow’s Narratives

The Bengali Widow’s narrative structure either raises after the climax to a tragicoutcome, when the protagonist is abandoned by her family, or folds back to see theprotagonist becoming the antagonist to her son’s bride.

We derived this narrative structure (Fig. 2) from the comparison of different nar-ratives that circulate among the West Bengal population that focus on the powerless-ness of the displaced widowed mother. In so doing, they provide a critical perspectiveon the status of the apparent stability women are assumed to have acquired uponmarriage, which comes into question in West Bengal after the death of their spouse,especially if their children have already reached adulthood by that time [50]. Therefore,the Bengali widowed mother narrative wants to illustrate a less romanticized realitywhich many women face. At first sight, this narrative structure is reminiscent of thedramatic arc, however there is a crucial variation that is connected to the ‘themes’ ofthe narrative. The climax is not followed by a phase of dénouement; rather, the tensionkeeps growing, either with the narrative looping back on itself if the widowed motherbecomes the antagonist (the mother-in-law) for the bride of her son – effectivelyrepeating the cycle from marriage to close – or, by continuing forward to show theabandonment of the mother by her sons after the death of her husband, will end in aclimax where her sons and daughters-in-law leave her beggared and alone. What isnotable here is the underlying tension between the mother’s expectations for how hersacrifices for her children will be repaid in the future and the reality of widowhood, aswell as her gradually shifting role from protagonist to antagonist in the eyes of theyounger generation of brides. Having two variants in a narrative is an aspect that can bemade productive for IDN, as the different outcomes can be connected to players’choices. In addition, IDN could add additional varieties, e.g. an outcome in which thewidow becomes a good friend and trusted advisor of the next generation of women.

Fig. 1. Etiological structure

The Myth of ‘Universal’ Narrative Models 7

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4.3 Ganga Comics

This structure is based on adaptations of Indian mythology in comics, in which thesolution to one conflict also immediately causes the next conflict to arise.

The “Ganga” [52] comic provides another interesting narrative structure to study(Fig. 3). The “Ganga” comic is derived from the Amar Chitra Katha (ACK), anillustrated comic series depicting hundreds of tales from the Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata,Panchanatra, and Vasavadatta, alongside a host of other plays, epics, and romancesacross the Indian subcontinent. This particular story stems from the Mahābhārata, acollection of mythological and instructive stories that revolve around a main narrativethat recounts the power struggle between two groups of cousins, namely the Kauravasand the Pandavas. The Mahābhārata represents a seminal text for the growth ofHinduism, and it is understood as both Dharma (moral law) and Itihasa (history) [53].The “Ganga” comic is a particular variety of this narrative that utilizes the affordancesof its medium.

The narrative structure is arranged as a negotiation between the two poles of‘responsibility’ and ‘consequence’. The narrative begins with an initial instigatingaction (IA), which would have specific consequences (C1). The next step involves thesearch of a solution (S1), that eventually results in a sort of resolution (R1), whichhowever would have other ongoing consequences (C2). These further consequenceswould begin the next part of the narrative, as the secondary instigation for furtheraction, escalating and repeating until all major consequences are resolved. The“Ganga” comic narrative structure is characterized by a cumulative pattern, in whichthe consequences of the solution to each problem affect the overall narrative. Thisaspect also aligns well with the affordances of IDN; the idea of player choice affectingthe problems/conflicts they will encounter later in the story is a powerful one withmuch potential for the creation of many individually different narratives from the samesystem.

Fig. 2. West Bengali widow narratives

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4.4 Sīra Narratives

Sīra narratives (Fig. 4) recount the circle of life and death of a Bedouin communityknown as the Banī Hilāl tribe. These narratives have the purpose of preserving thememory of brave warriors who vanished as the tribe achieved peace through struggle.More specifically, they narrate the adventures of the tribe as it traveled toward Tunisiain search of new pasturages. They feature an ‘accurate’ historical frame of themigration and conquest, while the actual narratives are “a series of intricate tales builton tension among a constellation of central characters” [54], involving several key maleroles playing opposite a single female lead role.

The life of the Bedouin tribe is organized in a “pattern of repeating cycles” [54],which organize the progression of episodes as journeys, from the protagonists’ birth totheir death. Each episode narrates a journey, with varying characters and changingcomposition of events; the different and unique premises of every episode emphasizethe significance of each individual journey. The dual nature of the ‘journey theme’,understood both as the search of new life and as war campaign, “sets up a vital tensionof opposites”, such as “famine-plenty, desert-pasture land, war-peace, life-death” [54].Each episode starts with the Banī Hilāl council organizing the journey. However,during the expedition, an obstacle appears that obliges the travelers to go back and getready anew. After that, they take on the journey again which will end successfully.

The variable episodic nature of these tales/journeys is suitable for the multiplicitythat IDNs can offer. The overall journey topic fits well with the spatial affordances ofinteractive digital media [24]. Furthermore, the five-part structure of each tale/journey[55] (lack; departure; contract; violation; lack liquidated or new lack) provides ampleopportunities to involve interactors/players in the unfolding narratives with a repeatingsuccession of obstacles, tension build-up and continuing challenges.

The Sīra narrative structure has a central hub from which many smaller, episodicjourney narratives depart and return, set within the larger frame of a community’ssurvival and eventual demise.

Fig. 3. Ganga comics

The Myth of ‘Universal’ Narrative Models 9

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4.5 Epiphanic Structure

This original structure features a cycle of conflict designed to create a moment ofepiphany, which causes the player/interactor to suddenly understand the events of thenarrative in a different light, and subsequently explores the narative again from thebeginning to discover the consequences of this revelation.

While alternatives to established narrative structures have been discussed before,these discussions frequently lack a structural analysis. Moreover, established narrativestructures like the Hero’s Journey are gleaned from the analysis of linear, fixed mediawith no regard for the participatory aspect of interactive narrative. In contrast, theabove structure (Fig. 5) is inspired by and partially based on the analysis of twoplaythrough sessions of PlatinumGames’ 2017 action game NieR:Automata [56], inwhich players see the same events twice, but through the eyes of each of the twoprotagonists.

Fig. 4. Sīra structure (Connelly 1973)

10 H. Koenitz et al.

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The first playthrough builds up to an epiphany, a realization or retrospectivemoment that radically re-contextualizes the events of that playthrough; the secondplaythrough then has players experience those same events with that epiphany in mind,which causes a (presumed) significant shift in the meaning that the player ascribes totheir own actions and the actions of the protagonists. Another game that can be said tofollow this structure is Paper Dino’s Save the Date [57]. The structure can be describedas follows:

1. Opening: the introduction of the storyworld;2. Cycle(s) of Conflict (CoC): the protagonist(s) face(s) challenges – physical, battles

and treasure hunts; emotional, relationships with other characters/actors; mental,piecing together clues about the storyworld’s backstory – and overcome(s) them (ornot);

3. Culmination: the fulfilment of the CoC’s narrative purpose, its result;4. Epiphany: a realization or retrospective moment, as a consequence of the culmi-

nation, that radically re-contextualizes the events of the CoC;5. (optional) Post-epiphanic Replay(s): the implicitly or explicitly acknowledged rep-

etition of the narrative after the epiphany that reconnects to the opening and mayintroduce/acknowledge the altered perspective;

6. Close: the conclusion of the narrative.

5 Concluding Remarks

In this paper, we describe a range of narrative structures from outside the dominantcanon of western print literature and cinematic works. They represent an untappedopportunity for the design and analysis of IDNs. Conversely, our work exposes the ideaof ‘universal’ narrative structures as a myth, as many alternatives exist to the dramatic

Fig. 5. Epiphanic structure

The Myth of ‘Universal’ Narrative Models 11

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VIELFALT VON NARRATION

ROMAN

DOKUMENTATION

ZEITUNGSARTIKEL

KISHOTENKETSU

FILM AFRIKANISCHE FORMEN MÜNDLICHEN GESCHICHTENERZÄHLENS

ABORIGINAL STORYTELLING

IDN

…

IDN IST MÖGLICH - ZU WAS IST ES GUT

IDN KANN KOMPLEXITÄT REPRÄSENTIEREN

WO WIRD DAS GEBRAUCHT?

GESCHICHTE / POLITIK SIND KEINE REINEN FAKTEN, SIE SIND KONSTRUIERTE NARRATIONEN

WIR SIND DAS LAND DER WECHSELNDEN NARRATION

DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE IST EINZIGARTIG [ … ] ES GIBT KEINE DURCHGÄNGIGE, ÜBERGREIFENDE NARRATION; DIE PUZZELTEILE PASSEN NICHT ZUSAMMEN

British Museum Kurator Neil MacGregor 2016

WIR HABEN EINE ALTERNATE REALITY MASCHINE

DAS STASI ARCHIV

KONKURRIERENDE NARRATION GIBT ES ÜBERALL

JA, DAS IST BEKANNT

EINSEITIGE BERICHTERSTATTUNG DIE “FILTER BUBBLE”

ABER…

WIR WISSEN, DASS WIR IN EINER KOMPLEXEN WELT LEBEN

UND TROTZDEM…

BEI VIELEN DRINGENDEN PROBLEMEN GREIFEN WIR AUF UNVERÄNDERLICHE NICHT-KOMPLEXE NARRATION ZURÜCK

KANN

-- 2 --

agency and interesting replay. Recurring to Aristotle therefore seems to be an altogether unwarranted move from the perspective of video game narratives.

The other supposed source for the ‘story arc’ is Gustav Freytag’s book on the “Art of the Drama” (Freytag, 1863). Freytag is concerned with the “architecture of stage play” (“Der Bau des Dramas” (Freytag, 1863, p. 91)). The structure he uncovers is symmetrical, with the climax at the midpoint. (Fig. 1), however, the idea of a “story arc,” is nowhere to be found.

Figure 1: Freytag’s original pyramid shape.

This symmetrical diagram differs markedly from later conceptions, e.g. the one (Fig. 2) found in Brenda Laurel’s Computers as Theatre (1991).

Figure 2: Story arc in Computers as Theatre (Laurel, 1991)

Finally, I resort to a historical approach. And indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary seems to provide an answer. It lists the first proper occurrence as “arc of story” in 1978:

1978 G. Stewart in ELH 45 483 In the proliferated death scenes of Bleak House, Dickens brings death as never before into the pages that intervene between the implied oblivion before and after the arc of story, the unvoiced voids of narrative. (OED Online, n.d.)

Therefore, in relation to Aristotle and Freytag, ‘story arc’ is a ghost-like existence, “used primarily by non-scholar production and fan communities,” (Lunenfeld, 2010) as “shorthand,” albeit with different meanings in the contexts of “serialized forms,” “interactive games” and film. The leap towards a universal structure of narrative is considerable and the inclusion of a loose interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics (and

NICHT REPRÄSENTIEREN

HERKÖMMLICHE GESCHICHTEN SIND NICHT MEHR IN DER LAGE, DIE KOMPLEXE REALITÄT ADÄQUAT ABZUBILDEN

HERKÖMMLICHE GESCHICHTEN BIETEN ANGRIFFSPUNKTE FÜR EXTREMISTISCHE PROPAGANDA, DA SIE NICHT IN DER LAGE SIND, KONKURRIERENDE NARRATIVE DARZUSTELLEN

DIE POSTMODERNE IST […] E I N E K R I S E D E R REPRÄSENTATION

Jean-François Lyotard 1979

DAS IST EINE HERAUSFORDERUNG FÜR DESIGNER

COMPLEXITY REQUIRES NEW NARRATIVES

David Rejeski, Heather Chaplin, Robert Olson 2015

IDN ALS SYSTEME KÖNNEN KOMPLEXITÄT REPRÄSENTIEREN UND ERLEBBAR MACHEN

AYITI - THE COST OF LIFE

FIREWATCH

IDNS MACHEN ENTSCHEIDUNGEN UND KONSEQUENZEN ERLEBBAR

THE LAST HIJACK INTERACTIVE

IDNS MACHEN VERSCHIEDENE PERSPEKTIVEN ERLEBBAR

FORT MCMONEY

IDNS MACHEN VERSCHIEDENE PERSPEKTIVEN ERLEBBAR

THE INDUSTRY

IDN SIND WERKZEUGE FÜR DIE DARSTELLUNG VON KOMPLEXEN ZUSAMMENHÄNGEN, DIE SYSTEMISCHES VERSTÄNDNIS ZEIGEN UND VERBREITEN

IDN ERMÖGLICHT VERSTEHEN DURCH DIE TEMPORÄRE KOGNITIVE REDUZIERUNG VON KOMPLEXITÄT, OHNE SIE ZU ELIMINIEREN

DIESES VERSTÄNDNIS IST DIE BASIS FÜR DEN DISKURS

AUSBLICK AN WAS WIR NOCH ARBEITEN MÜSSEN

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN

SYSTEM DESIGN PROZESS DESIGN ERFAHRUNG VON KOMPLEXITÄT

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN

SYSTEM DESIGN PROZESS DESIGN ERFAHRUNG VON KOMPLEXITÄT

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN

SYSTEM DESIGN PROZESS DESIGN ERFAHRUNG VON KOMPLEXITÄT

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN

SYSTEM DESIGN PROZESS DESIGN ERFAHRUNG VON KOMPLEXITÄT

WO ANSETZEN?

GRUNDLAGE MODELLE

DIE NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN HABEN MITTEL ZUR DARSTELLUNG VON VIELFALT

VOR 90 JAHREN GAB ES EINE KATZE, SCHRÖDINGERS KATZE

GLEICHZEITIG LEBEND UND TOT

WEITERE METHODEN ZUM VERSTÄNDNIS KOMPLEXER ZUSAMMENHÄNGE SIND SEITDEM ENTSTANDEN

KYBERNETIK

SYSTEM THEORIE

CHAOS THEORIE

FUZZY LOGIC

PROCESS

SYSTEM

PRODUCTPRODUKT - STORY

SYSTEM - PROTOSTORY

PROZESS - INSTANZIIERUNG

SPP MODEL (KOENITZ 2015)

POTENTIELLE NARRATION

INSTANZIIERTE NARRATION

PERFORMANCE/UX

DESIGN

RECORDED OUTPUT

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE DESIGN IST DAS ERSTELLEN VON REPRÄSENTATIONEN KOMPLEXER ZUSAMMENHÄNGE

IDNS VERBREITEN SYSTEMISCHES DENKEN

IDNS SIND WICHTIG UM EINEM ÖFFENTLICHEN DISKURS ÜBER DIE DRINGLICHSTEN THEMEN ZU ERMÖGLICHEN

IDNS ZU ERSTELLEN UND ZU VERSTEHEN IST EINE HERAUSFORDERUNG

DARAN KÖNNEN WIR GEMEINSAM ARBEITEN

DANKE!!!HARTMUT.KOENITZ@HKU.NL

@HKOENITZ

HTTP://GAMESANDNARRATIVE.NET

HTTP://TINYURL.COM/HDSPJRQ