Immersive storytelling is becoming increasingly popular these days. Immersive media is commonly associated with the technologies of VR and AR where sound reinforces a primarily visual effect. However, considering the rapidly growing demand for audiobook storytelling, audio narration alone seems to be highly suitable for facilitating a state of immersion. Listeners often testify that they experience a strong sense of presence in the story world, even imagining that they are not merely observing events but actually participating in them.

According to Marie-Laure Ryan and her poetics of immersion in Narrative as Virtual Reality 2, concrete details such as exact place names contribute to strengthening the reader’s sense of being immersed in a place and to visualise it. Does that also apply to vocal delivery? Is the sense of being immersed reinforced by the use of dialect or sociolect? Or is it possible that it has an alienating effect? This talk will explore the use of dialect in audiobooks as either an immersive-enhancing element or an alienating factor.