In the interactive narrative Loss of Grasp, the reader’s gestures fully contribute to the construction of meaning. The reader can experience the character’s feeling of loss of grasp in an interactive way. The reader can then feel a form of “bliss” – to quote Barthes’ expression – in this interactive experience, which helps him/her fully identify or be empathetic with the character. However, this bliss based on a state of loss can also be experienced by the author, whose piece is bound to disappear (because of the disappearance of Flash for instance) and who has to recreate and give birth to it again and again. And this bliss can also be experienced by the translator (Loss of Grasp is available in 11 different languages). Although having to translate unexpected aspects – such as different semiotic forms and gestures – may be unsettling at first, it can turn out to be an opportunity for the translator to find a way to counter global digital cultural homogeneity and give life to cultural diversity again. This link between loss of grasp and state of bliss that can be experienced by the reader, but also by the author and by the translator, is rooted in the Digital.
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