The story event “the beauty and the beast” in second life: Literature studies and the (non-)adoption of virtual worlds

Abstract

The aim of this study is to gain insight into how digital three-dimensional worlds generate new ways of (1) studying literary genres, (2) “prosuming” literary story-events, and (3) supporting the learning of literary competencies. In a virtual world, the frontiers between the factual and the fictional are replaced and blurred in similar ways as in fictional literature, though the sensation of reality is enhanced, since the medium allows for intense interaction, where the technology and the human body are involved. Contents and interactions in the virtual world Second Life are explored through the lenses of literature, in order to observe how literary components play out in the environment. The methodology is inspired by ethnography, and comprises methods of immersed engagement and observations, as well as visual and textual snapshot documentations in-world. The results offer perspectives on affordances and hinders for integrating virtual worlds in learning and literature studies.