Towards a Specific Theory of Interactive Digital Narrative

Abstract

This chapter explains several broad trajectories that exist in the application of narrative theory to interactive digital narratives (IDNs). An initial milestone was set by Brenda Laurel who adopted Aristotle's Poetics to explain interactive drama. The chapter analyses several existing theoretical perspectives to foreground the scope and focus of earlier contributions and investigate which aspects are not fully covered yet. It then describes the theoretical framework that overcomes the limitations inherent in approaches that adapt and redefine existing theories of narrative grounded in legacy media. Finally, the chapter discusses narrative design to describe the structure within a protostory that describes a flexible presentation of a narrative. The protostory in Facade contains the space of possible stories described by the contents of the narrative units, the drama manager's goals and preconditions. Together with the terms protostory, narrative design, and narrative vectors the theoretical framework captures specific aspects of IDN.

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