The SEA path
Stories as Architecture
If navigation is about movement, configuration is about meaning-making—about reconstructing a narrative from scattered elements. This chapter examines how ergodic literature presents stories as structures rather than sequences, allowing the reader (or performer) to determine their shape and coherence.
PATHS.
Which way will you go?
The Lost /
The Dead
A short film on the freedom of youth and the consequences of that raw energy. Where do your feet lead you, and are you in control of them?
The Sea /
The Mother
A poetry collection questioning our place in life. Questioning who we've become when so much is behind us, and so much is still ahead.
Footnotes & References
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Core Theoretical Foundations:
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1️⃣ Janet Murray – Hamlet on the Holodeck
- Explores interactive storytelling and how digital spaces allow narrative reassembly rather than linear consumption.
2️⃣ Jorge Luis Borges – The Garden of Forking Paths
- A foundational text on nonlinear storytelling, reinforcing the idea of multiple narrative structures.
3️⃣ Lev Manovich – The Language of New Media
- Defines database narratives as stories structured for reconfiguration and reader agency.
- Explores interactive storytelling and how digital spaces allow narrative reassembly rather than linear consumption.
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Critical Debates and Counterarguments:
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Christopher Booker – The Seven Basic Plots
- Argues that stories follow archetypal structures, challenging the necessity of configurability.
2️⃣ Robert McKee – Story
- Advocates for classical, well-structured narratives, critiquing nonlinear design as incoherent.
3️⃣ Seymour Chatman – Story and Discourse
- Distinguishes between narrative structure and presentation, questioning whether configuration truly changes storytelling.
- Argues that stories follow archetypal structures, challenging the necessity of configurability.
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Empirical Studies & Case Studies:
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1️⃣ Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead
- A game where player choices alter the story, demonstrating interactive configuration.
2️⃣ Mark Z. Danielewski’s Only Revolutions
- A novel designed with two separate but intertwined narratives, requiring configurational reading.
3️⃣ Immersive Theatre (Punchdrunk, Sleep No More)
- Demonstrates how theatre can adopt configurable, audience-driven narratives.
- A game where player choices alter the story, demonstrating interactive configuration.
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