On Soulsring Worlds

Marco Caracciolo is Associate Professor of English and Literary Theory at Ghent University in Belgium. Drawing inspiration from cognitive science, the philosophy of mind, and the environmental humanities, his work explores the forms of experience afforded by narrative in literary fiction and video games. He is the author of several books, including most recently Contemporary Narrative and the Spectrum of Materiality (2023).

"If Dark Souls and Elden Ring deliver us ludic incomprehension, then Caracciolo delivers his customary analytical clarity. The book’s replay value promises to attract both gamers and academics, keeping all of our intellectual health bars high."David Ciccoricco, author of Refiguring Minds in Narrative Media and Reading Network Fiction

• Introduction1. Complicating the Flow of Time2. Game Space: Layers and Gaps3. Reimagining Humanity as Multiplicity4. Community: Asynchronous Multiplayer and Shared Difficulty5. Levels of Interpretation in Online Discussion6. Soul and Swamp: Ethics of Soulsring GameplayWorks Cited