The Chorus as Internalized Objects

This note stems from an experiment in which the theatrical device of Greek chorus serves as a model for interactions with a computational narrative [Strohecker et al.]. That experiment is largely structural: players’ interactions unfold progressively finer detail about the story, but do not change the course of events or alter the characters. Players interact mainly by querying representations of chorus members, who comment on the narrative from different perspectives. Here I consider how the chorus model might be pushed further, such that viewers become chorus members in some more direct sense, thereby contributing to the choral aspect of the narrative system as it grows over time. My musings include a discussion of the psychological process of introjection and how it could guide thinking about system development based on players’ interactions.