“It all feels too real”: Digital Storyworlds and “Ontological Resonance”

Abstract

This article explores the way that interactive digital narratives play with the boundary between reality and fiction in ways that lead reader/players to perceive bidirectional ontological transfers both during and after the narrative experience—a phenomenon that I define as “ontological resonance.” Drawing on empirical research, it examines Blast Theory's app-fiction Karen as a case study but suggests that ontological resonance is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout digital culture. The article demonstrates how empirical research can reveal ways in which such ontological transfers occur and, crucially, how they are conceptualized by readers. It also suggests that ontological resonances can be generated by and felt in response to narratives across media and concludes that empirical research is vital for accessing authentic reader responses to narrative experiences even when those responses suggest that readers have experienced uncertain ontologies that are logically and/or physically impossible.