Navigating an Immersive Narratology: Factors to Explain the Reception of Fake News

In direct response to the rise in fake news as a socio-cultural and political phenomenon, this article presents an analysis of the factors that may help to explain the reception of fake news. In addition, recent pronouncements made by the Trump White House seem to challenge the nature of an objective truth. An immersive narratology emphasizes that different universes of discourse can intermingle and overlap, with fact and fiction becoming difficult to distinguish in our increasingly mediated lives. A tenable definition of fake news is offered prior to exploring historical antecedents of fake news. Persuasion, construction, immersion, distribution, and polarization represent the core factors that demystify the reception of fake news regardless as to whether an individual believes a story. A concluding discussion offers a critical evaluation of the potential of fake news to augment the news media landscape in the coming years.