Bradley Markle
I am a literary scholar and educator specializing in comparative literature, interactive narrative, and digital rhetoric. My work examines narrative architecture across historical and contemporary forms, from classical myth and folklore to electronic literature and games. My research focuses on how boundary-crossing techniques reshape audience participation and authorial voice in both print forms (e.g., Postmodernism) and digital narratives.
Comparative Literature & World Narrative Traditions
Classical reception, world mythologies, and comparative folklore remediation across print and digital media ecosystems.
Interactive Narrative & Game Studies
Metaleptic framing, procedural storytelling, and player agency in computational and electronic narrative spaces.
Digital Humanities & Computational Pedagogy
Critical media literacy, narrative engine architecture, and human-centered rhetoric in an age of generative AI.
Oral Poetics & Performance Traditions
Homeric oral-formulaic composition (Parry-Lord theory), West African call-and-response mechanics, and the participatory Greek chorus remediated through code.
African American & Southern Literatures
Southern Gothic traditions, Afro-Caribbean folktales, and diasporic storytelling practices.
Contemporary Print & Digital Publishing
Editorial curation, small-press production, student-centered publication labs, and digital journal distribution.
Genre Studies & American Fiction
The American short story, metafiction, and transmedial adaptation across 20th- and 21st-century popular media.
Selected Publications
Interactivity and Interruption: Metalepsis as a Pivotal Narrative Device in Gaming
An investigation into the mechanics of boundary-crossing narrative architecture within modern electronic media systems, analyzing how mechanical disruption functions as an intentional critical device to negotiate player agency.
Embodying the Story: Haptic Narrative in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Examines the concept of haptic narrative and its deployment as a pivotal plot device. The analysis argues that the game’s central thesis and emotional resonance are structurally dependent on physical interaction, demonstrating how meaning is articulated directly through the player's hands.
Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1960s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations
Contributed editorial and research support as a Graduate Assistant, focusing on text collation, document organization, and indexing for this critical volume on mid-century American theatrical movements.
Conference Presentations
“Metalepsis through Player Agency: Coding, File Alterations, and Achievements in Video Game Narratives”
“That's the Sound of Inevitability: Using ChatGPT and other LLMs to Create Cross-Curricular Writing Assignments”
“Mario's PTSD: Trauma and Rebirth in Popular Media”
“Telling Video Game Stories Through the Body: Theoretical Framework of Haptic Narrative”
“Old School Cool: Developing Educational Software for the Modern Instructor”
“Radical Trust: How Swarm Computing Can Effect Change in the Humanities”
Kalliope, Folio Chap Book, and KLIO Digital Literary Magazine
Oversee the production, editorial pipelines, and digital/print curation for three distinct campus literary magazines, mentoring student editorial boards in design, publishing workflow, and contemporary creative curation.
Digital Storytelling Project
Co-developed and led interactive Twine workshops for local middle and high school students. Designed curriculum to bridge STEM disciplines and literary arts through basic logic coding, branching choice design, and digital narrative architecture.
Digital Humanities Center Support
Provided development and instructional support for graduate courses covering digital curation, interactive narrative, and digital rhetoric. Assisted researchers and students with the installation, pipeline setup, and deployment of technical DH research applications.
The Play Colloquium
Co-organized academic panels, tech demos, and creative exhibitions exploring the intersection of modern electronic media, play mechanics, and structural storytelling frameworks.
Curriculum Vitae
Complete academic appointments, peer-reviewed scholarship, editorial leadership, and technical competencies.
Overview
Education
Ph.D. in Literature and Criticism (Passed with Distinction) | Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2026)
M.A. in English | University of North Florida (2012)
B.A. in English | University of North Florida (2008)
Current Academic Appointment
Associate Teaching Professor of English | Penn State University (2019–Present)
Media Analysis & Video Essays
Media analysis projects exploring structural storytelling across interactive platforms.