Experiencing Immersion in Antiquity and Modernity

This book examines the links between experiencing immersion in antiquity and modernity. Immersive experiences are big business within today’s creative economy. Forms range from immersive museum exhibitions, theatrical performances, art installations and experiences facilitated through virtual and augmented reality technologies. Yet the idea of immersion is not new; paintings, sculpture and theatre have all been theorised historically in terms of illusion, realism and immersion.

From antiquity to modernity, there has been an interest in theorising the relationship between reality and virtual realities, and in contemplating whether feeling present in an alternate universe is a sought-after experience or something problematic and dangerous. The chapters in this volume explore the warnings against immersion voiced by Plato and embodied in the figure of the Homeric sirens, contrasted with the pro-immersion perspectives championed by Aristotelian mimesis and embodied in the concept of enargeia. The volume also examines the integration of the ancient world into immersive novels, games, museum exhibitions and theatrical performances. Practice-as-Research contributions explore the benefits of this synergy from practitioner perspectives. Contributors from diverse fields – including classical reception studies, art history, game studies, heritage studies and theatre studies – approach the interplay between antiquity and modernity from varied standpoints. Together, they uncover previously unforeseen connections across disciplines and lay the groundwork for future research and additional classically inflected immersive experiences.