Discord Conversations, Mutual Blame, and the Influence of Shared Storytelling
In the realm of contemporary literature, the novel "What Happened to Lucy Vale" by Lauren Oliver, published by Skyscape, is making waves for its innovative approach to storytelling. The author, in a bid to capture the complexities of shared experiences and collective action, turned to a platform that mirrors the digital age - Discord.
Discord, often likened to the offspring of a group text thread and a private social network, provides a rich blueprint for authors grappling with non-traditional points of view. Its text, voice, and video chat features are organised into thematic "channels" within larger "servers," allowing for instant access to the same information and modelling branching narratives.
In "What Happened to Lucy Vale," the author fantasized about a solution that would operate in the world of the book like a private social media platform. The author found this solution in Discord, a platform designed for real-time, collective interaction that is decentralized and can be started by anyone. The author decided to define the "we" in the novel as the roughly thirty-six members of a Discord server, accessible only to select members of a certain high school class.
The novel's main challenge was to imbue a unified "we" with the organic fluidity of individual thought without devolving into an implausible, faceless entity. The collective "we" in the novel is localized on Discord, a platform for real-time, collective interaction. The "we" is not just a narrator but also a participant, actively engaging in and being shaped by the unfolding drama.
The dynamic interaction between the "we" and the unfolding drama emphasizes the theme of implication, where the collective becomes entangled in the consequences of their shared actions and observations. The group identity in the novel became both the catalyst to and complicator of the events.
The collective voice on Discord can define individuals within the "we," whose personalities and presence are shaped by their contributions to the group-chat. Discord serves as a living laboratory of collective consciousness, demonstrating how individuals contribute to and are shaped by a larger group identity.
The use of Discord in "What Happened to Lucy Vale" challenges traditional notions of "voice" in narrative storytelling. For instance, Lauren Oliver uses a Discord community in her novel to model mutual communication, the revealing of secrets, and a collective experience space by letting multiple members interact in real time, express their inner thoughts, and shape the shared reality through their posts and dialogues.
Platforms like Discord offer insights into the evolving nature of storytelling, providing a blueprint for depicting the complexities of shared experience, distributed knowledge, and collective action. As we move forward in the digital age, it's fascinating to see how literature adapts and innovates to reflect our increasingly interconnected world.
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