Interactive Fiction and the Role of the New Critical Reader

This paper explores the shifting paradigm of literary consumption within digital mediums through a theoretical investigation into interactive fiction (IF) and the evolving role of the contemporary reader. Utilizing a qualitative approach, the study first establishes the fundamental nature of interactive fiction, examining how its digital, multi-linear architecture distinguishes it from traditional, static texts. Building upon this structural foundation, the paper redefines the reader-player as a "New Critical Reader", a proactive co-author whose interpretive engagement is hardcoded into the narrative itself. A central finding of this study reveals that unlike traditional reading practices, the reader of interactive fiction must systematically traverse all designed narrative paths to fully synthesize the author’s overarching thematic message. The paper concludes by positioning this framework as a necessary theoretical paradigm shift in reader-response theory, paving the way for future empirical research that will apply these manifestations to a specific case study within the interactive fiction canon.

Interactive Fiction, Reader-Response Theory, Digital Narratology, Co-authorship, Multi-linear Narrative, New Critical Reader

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