Exploring the epistolary form through the framing and embedded narrative in walking simulators and Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy

Abstract

The development in technology has expanded the creative possibilities for storytelling in different mediums. Because of this constant development, research and theories become outdated since they cannot account for future mediums that would not have been used at the time. In this study, past theories centred around framing and embedded narratives and the epistolary genre are applied to the Fullbright games Tacoma and Gone Home. Gary Saul Morson’s and Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories on the polyphonic novel will be re-evaluated to fit the framing and embedded narrative technique used in the aforementioned games. The epistolary genre will also be examined in a similar fashion. The argument brought by Laurent Versini that the epistolary novel is flawed will be applied to the Fullbright games to provide a better solution for the epistolary genre through the newer medium of walking simulators. All the theories discussed will be applied to Tacoma and Gone Home using close reference in the form of in-game screenshots. The pinnacle of this study will be in connecting the findings of the videogame case studies to Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. The novel acts as a unique example for creative ways of using techniques in framing and embedded narratives and the epistolary genre in novels. Therefore, it is not the aim of this study to show that the videogame medium is better at using these techniques than the novel. Instead, Tristram Shandy is studied to show how these techniques are applied when used in different mediums which are both worthy of holding their own merit