többirlusing

Többirlusing is a fictional term used to describe a communication technique in which a single artifact delivers multiple, conjunctive meanings across linguistic, cultural, and sensory modalities. In theory, it enables a message to be simultaneously legible to different audiences while preserving a unified surface text.

Origin and etymology: The term is a portmanteau created in online fan communities as a playful blend of a Hungarian word több meaning more or many and a suffix suggesting layering or puzzling. It lacks a formal etymology and is used mainly within speculative fiction discourse.

Practice: In practice, többirlusing combines multilayered writing techniques, cross-media cues (visual, sonic, and textual), and audience participation to create polysemous texts. Examples include annotated stories where footnotes reveal alternate interpretations, or a game where players contribute glossaries to expand meaning.

Contexts and reception: It appears in collaborative storytelling, alternate-reality games, and literary theory discussions as a method to study interpretation and reader agency. Critics note it can create dense texts that reward close reading and may deter casual readers.