Since its inception, narratology has developed primarily as an investigation of literary narrative fiction. In Avatars of Story, Marie-Laure Ryan moves beyond literary works to examine electronic narrative forms. By grappling with semiotic media other than language and technology other than print, she reveals how digital media convey meaning and create stories.

Ryan begins by considering texts such as a 1989 Cubs–Giants baseball broadcast, the reality television show Survivor, and the film The Truman Show. She then expands her investigation into new media: computer games such as EverQuest and Super Mario Bros., software-driven hypertext fiction such as the GPS-based 314 North 118 West, and Façade, a multimedia, AI-supported project in interactive drama. In doing so, Ryan distinguishes a spectrum of narrative modes, such as utilitarian, illustrative, indeterminate, and metaphorical.

 Ultimately, Ryan stresses the difficulty of reconciling narrativity with interactivity and anticipates the time when media will provide new ways to experience stories or even permanently alter what is recognized as story.

 Marie-Laure Ryan is an independent scholar and the author of, most recently, Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media.

瑪麗—勞爾•瑞安（Marie-Laure Ryan），美國獨立學者，著有《可能世界•人工智能•敘事理論》《作為虛擬現實的敘事》，與戴維•赫爾曼和曼弗瑞德•雅恩一道主編瞭《勞特利奇敘事理論百科全書》。在《敘事》《文體》《今日詩學》《符號學》《文學語義學學報》等知名文學理論期刊發錶論文一百餘篇。