"Nonlinearity and Literary Theory" by Espen Aarseth

The essay revolves much around fabula and sujet, which are Russian terms that describe narrative construction.  Fabula is the actual order of events in a narrative while Sujet is the order in which the events are presented. A clear example of the difference between fabula and sujet would be Memento, where the events presented, sujet, are opposite the order in which they occured, fabula. One might argue that the tension between fabula and sujet is what produces a story because of the paradoxical concept formed that gives the audience the desire to discuss what he or she has experienced.

Define Consumption

How do we judge if we have consumed a work? Does the viewing all of the individual frames constitute seeing a movie? Do we have to watch the film in the intended order? Can we say we've seen the film if we know the plot/theme?

Process vs. product vs. theme

Questions whether different experiences of the same product (novel, film, game, etc.) convey the same theme. The term, process, refers to the manner of presentation, and the product is the text itself, while the theme is the meaning extracted from the text. (Can a person who watched a film in two second chunks spread out over weeks say that they've seen the movie?)

Actual vs. intended

Questions the importance of process vs. product. Refers to the order and meaning of a narrative work, and questions whether or not a new narrative work is formed when the order of events change while the meaning/theme remains the same or vice versa. (Think Blade Runner Director's Cut)

"It's a changeover and you just missed it" Fight Club