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From the vault

Years ago I wrote an article that speculated on a “literary turn” for games that were raising the stakes in terms of emotional and moral complexity. I added that the same trend was an opportunity to direct the 21st century insights from cognitive science and social psychology toward a better understanding of how literary games work (and play) with our own minds – moving beyond the more common emphases of cultivating visuospatial intelligence or regimes of competence around game-based learning.

It is heartening to see this article by award-winning journalist Caren Chesler in the popular press, published in Undark Magazine and the Daily Beast, which cites some recent research along these lines, but makes a nod all the way back to my 2007 article in Dichtung Digital. One from the vault indeed.

Plenary spot at Narrative 2021

I was truly grateful for this opportunity to speak at the Narrative 2021 conference in one of the plenary spots, and see some colleagues in the process. It was a real highlight.

In my paper, “Confessions of a Narratypical and the Burden of Embodied Simulation,” I reflect on the utility of embodied simulation as an explanatory mechanism for narrative fiction in both print and digital media, and outline some of the challenges such theories pose for narrative theory in general.

mission

Glorious visit to the University of California Santa Barbara, and gratitude to my host Alan Liu.

Image one of the Mission (because mission accomplished on a great audience & event). Image two, my event poster hanging in good company. And image three from the top of the UCSB library, which has two wings – Ocean and Mountain – with corresponding views. I choose mountain.