Reading digital fiction. narrative, cognition, mediality Reading digital fiction. narrative, cognition, mediality , by Alice Bell and Astrid Ensslin, Hardcover, 2024, 218 pp., ISBN: 978-0-367-62670-9

Reading Digital Fiction provides an extensive and structured exploration of digital fiction, adopting a cognitive and empirical approach. Introducing the concept of 'medial reading' emphasizes the importance of audience engagement with the medium of production and reception. The text examines five generations of digital fiction, including hypertext fiction, hypermedia fiction, narrative video games, app fiction, and virtual reality. It showcases diverse qualitative reader response research methods specific to different mediums and platforms, ranging from screen-based interaction to gallery installations. Through empirical studies, the book investigates aspects such as hypertextuality, interactivity, immersion, and medium-specific narrative elements. By focusing on the reader's experience, it contributes to the development and critique of cognitive, transmedial, and empirical narratology and stylistics.