Marie Laure Ryan is a literary scholar and critic whose work focuses on narratology, fiction, and cyberculture. She is currently working on an encyclopedia of digital textuality. Her research examines the historical development of narrative through four ages - oral, chirographic, print, and digital. She defines digital text as replicable, editable, and able to reach a global audience. Ryan also analyzes aspects of digital narratives such as their interactive, performative, and networked qualities. She explores how digital narratives can utilize variable discourse, points of view, and plots.