This article argues that interactional metalepsis is a device that is inherently built into ergodic digital fiction and thus that ergodic digital fiction is necessarily unnatural. Offering a definition and associated typology of interactional metalepsis as it occurs in digital fiction, it explores the ways in which these media-specific and unnatural forms of metalepsis manifest in that medium. It defines interactional metalepsis as a form of metalepsis which takes place across the actual to storyworld boundary and that exploits the interactive nature of digital technology via the hardware through which the reader accesses the text, such as the mouse, keyboard, or other navigational devices, and/or via media-specific interactive modes of expression such as hyperlinks or avatars. It argues that because interactional metalepses are inherently unnatural both in terms of physically and logical impossibility and also because interactional metalepsis is a device that is intrinsically built into ergodic digital fiction, digital fictions are inherently unnatural. Exploring the ways in which these media-specific and unnatural forms of metalepsis manifest in digital fiction, I offer a typology of interactional metalepsis which incorporates the following: metaleptic navigational devices, metaleptic hyperlinks, metaleptic webcams, and metaleptic breath. The article shows that digital fiction allows unnatural narrative to manifest in ways that must be analyzed media-specifically and therefore according to the affordances of a particular medium. I argue further that different forms of metalepsis are likely to be conventionalized by readers of digital fiction to varying degrees which depend upon the wider digital, cultural context to which they belong and also that, unlike most metalepses in print which are typically defamiliarizing, some forms of interactional metalepsis can have the opposite, immersive effect. This article shows that some of the theoretical underpinnings of unnatural narrative need to be reconsidered in light of the unnatural’s manifestation in digital fiction. It thus contributes to the development of unnatural narratology as a transmedial approach.

中文翻译：

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互动隐喻与非自然叙事学

本文认为，交互隐喻是一种固有地内置于遍历数字小说中的设备，因此遍历数字小说必然是不自然的。它提供了数字小说中出现的交互隐喻的定义和相关类型学，探索了这些特定于媒体的和不自然的隐喻形式在该媒体中的表现方式。它将交互隐喻定义为一种隐喻形式，它跨越实际到故事世界的边界，通过读者访问文本的硬件（如鼠标、键盘或其他导航设备）利用数字技术的交互性质，和/或通过媒体特定的交互表达模式，例如超链接或头像。它认为，因为交互隐喻在物理和逻辑上的不可能性本质上是不自然的，而且因为交互隐喻是一种内在地内置在遍历数字小说中的设备，所以数字小说本质上是不自然的。探索这些特定媒体和非自然形式的隐喻在数字小说中的表现方式，我提供了一种交互隐喻的类型学，其中包括以下内容：隐喻导航设备、隐喻超链接、隐喻网络摄像头和隐喻呼吸。文章表明，数字小说允许非自然叙事以必须针对特定媒体进行分析的方式表现出来，因此必须根据特定媒体的可供性进行分析。我进一步论证说，不同形式的Metaepsis很可能被数字小说的读者在不同程度上被传统化，这取决于他们所属的更广泛的数字文化背景，而且与大多数印刷版的metaepses通常是陌生的不同，某些形式交互隐喻可以产生相反的沉浸式效果。本文表明，鉴于非自然在数字小说中的表现形式，需要重新考虑非自然叙事的一些理论基础。因此，它促进了非自然叙事学作为一种跨媒体方法的发展。某些形式的交互隐喻会产生相反的沉浸式效果。本文表明，鉴于非自然在数字小说中的表现形式，需要重新考虑非自然叙事的一些理论基础。因此，它促进了非自然叙事学作为一种跨媒体方法的发展。某些形式的交互隐喻会产生相反的沉浸式效果。本文表明，鉴于非自然在数字小说中的表现形式，需要重新考虑非自然叙事的一些理论基础。因此，它促进了非自然叙事学作为一种跨媒体方法的发展。