The topic of video games is expansive, encompassing numerous domains that have yet to be thoroughly examined within a scholarly context. Modern games, especially those in the adventure and role-playing genres, are oftentimes heavily laden with text, and therefore serve as excellent subjects when formulating hermeneutical models for simulated virtual contexts. Furthermore, many games belong under the umbrella of literary studies due to their reliance upon text to forge interactive, fictional narratives. While this means many games possess qualities that render them germane to academics within the sphere of English studies, they remain neglected outliers due to manifold factors, ranging from outmoded biases against the medium, to a lack of established evaluative methodologies. As a result, the field is largely bereft of consensus strategies for engaging digital works featuring literary exposition and dialogue in the form of on-screen text; however, existing theories, including more abstruse ones relating to ergodic literature, hypertext and cybertext, provide a foundation on which to construct new modalities for assessing texts that exist within virtual environs. Research indicates that audience experiences in text-driven games are markedly different than those offered by analog texts due to their interactivity and non-linearity, thus reinforcing the need for the expansion of existing models. Of additional concern, analyses of modern text-oriented games prefigure some important implications for the areas of pedagogy and textual information conveyance in general. These considerations all coalesce to illustrate the exigency for a new or updated theory for understanding and interpreting text in digital substrates, ultimately allowing for inchoate and emergent art facilitated by technology to be recognized as academically relevant.

Every day, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) embeds itself further into domestic and industrial technologies. Interaction de- signers have historically struggled to engage directly with the subject, facing a shortage of appropriate methods and abstractions. There is a need to find ways though which interaction design practitioners might integrate ML into their work, in order to democratize and diversify the field. This thesis proposes a mode of inquiry that considers the inter- active qualities of what machine learning does, as opposed the tech- nical specifications of what machine learning is. A shift in focus from the technicality of ML to the artifacts it creates allows the interaction designer to situate its existing skill set, affording it to engage with ma- chine learning as a design material. A Research-through-Design pro- cess explores different methodological adaptions, evaluated through user feedback and an-in depth case analysis. An elaborated design experiment, Multiverse, examines the novel, non-anthropomorphic aesthetic qualities of generative literature. It prototypes interactions with bidirectional literature and studies how these transform the reader into a cybertextual “user-reader”. The thesis ends with a discussion on the implications of machine written literature and proposes a number of future investigations into the research space unfolded through the prototype.

Магистерская диссертация «Визуальные новеллы как издательский феномен» состоит из двух глав. В первой главе анализируется дефиниция термина «визуальная новелла» (ВН), дается экскурс в историю возникновения и развития ВН, рассматриваются характерные особенности ВН, предлагаются классификации ВН и определение ВН как вида интерактивных электронных изданий. Вторая глава посвящена анализу процесса создания визуальной новеллы с редакторской и издательской точек зрения. В ней выявляются структурные компоненты ВН, анализируется восприятие визуальной новеллы читателем и его влияние на определение жанра ВН, вырабатывается пошаговый алгоритм и правила написания и редактирования ВН, а также рассматриваются особенности подготовки перевода текста ВН для выпуска переводного издания. В приложении предлагается перевод на русский язык с английского языка визуальной новеллы «Star-Crossed Myth» с целью использования перевода в русскоязычном издании. Отдельные положения проведенного исследования были представлены на Международной научно-практической интернет-конференции «Язык. Текст. Книга» (Екатеринбург, 2018). Библиографический список содержит 18 источников на русском языке и 54 источника на английском языке. / Master's thesis “Visual novels as a publishing phenomenon” consists of two chapters. First chapter is devoted to analysis of definition “visual novel” (VN), history overview of emergence and development of VN, study of characteristic features of VN, suggestion on ways of categorizing VN and identification of VN as a new form of electronic interactive publications. Second chapter is de-voted to study of visual novel creating process from the point of view of both editor and publisher. This chapter consists of definition of structural components of VN, analysis of readers’ reception and its influence on VN genre, formulating of step-by-step algorithm and rules for creating and editing VN, and also highlighting specifics of working on VN text translation in order to publish a translated edition. The application contains translation of visual novel “Star-Crossed Myth” from English language into Russian for the purpose of its usage in Russian edition. Certain of the study were presented at the International Scientific and Practical Internet Conference “Language. Text. Book” (Ekaterinburg, 2018). The bibliography contains 19 Russian-language source materials and 54 English-language source materials.