Paul Hazel Narrative & New Media

Paul HazelNarrative & New Media

1: Introduction 1: Introduction 2: Some Basic Terms 3: Order & Selection 4: Narrativity 5: Narrative & Medium 6: Some Problem Areas? 7: Summary & Conclusion 8: References

2: Some Basic Terms • A narrative is a complete and coherent representation of any event or series of events, real or imagined.

2: Some Basic Terms • A narrative is a complete and coherent representation of any event or series of events, real or imagined. • A narrative consists of the story and the narrative discourse.

2: Some Basic Terms Interactive Narratives? • Hypernarrative (Manovich 2001) • Multiform stories (Murray 1997) • Interactive stories (Crawford 2005) • Non-Linear narratives (Landow 2006)

2: Some Basic Terms • A new media object can defined as one or more interfaces to a multimedia database. (Manovich 2001, p.37)

2: Some Basic Terms • A new media object can defined as one or more interfaces to a multimedia database. (Manovich 2001, p.37) • Five “defining concepts” of new media: digitality, interactivity, hypertextuality, dispersal, virtuality. (Lister et al 2003)

2: Some Basic Terms • Interactivity is a "cyclic process between two or more active agents in which each agent alternately listens (accepts input), thinks (processes input), and speaks (generates output)." (Adapted from Crawford 2005, p.29)

2: Some Basic Terms • A hypertext is "a work which is made up from discrete units of material in which each one carries a number of pathways to other units." (Lister et al 2003, p.24)

3: Order & Selection A single path through a hypertext environment.

3: Order & Selection Problems associated with hypertextual environments: • The user is forced to continually switch cognitive mode. • Segmentation. • There is no fixed sequence. • There is no definite beginning or end. • Therefore, no clear indication of limits or size. • No fixed 'text'.

3: Order & Selection A single path through the events of the day.

3: Order & Selection Section summary: • The experience of creating a narrative in a new media environment is conceptually identical to the experience of mentally creating a narrative.

3: Order & Selection Section summary: • The experience of creating a narrative in a new media environment is conceptually identical to the experience of mentally creating a narrative. • The process is identical, but one selects from hyperlinks, the other from real or imagined events.

4: Narrativity

4: Narrativity [Derived from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/freytag.html]

4: Narrativity [Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure]

4: Narrativity Freytag's Pyramid with Propp's classifications.

4: Narrativity Freytag's Pyramid with Labov & Waletzky's classifications.

4: Narrativity Bang's (1993) model of "linear storytelling."

4: Narrativity Laurel's (1993) "contemporary" dramatic arc.

4: Narrativity Plot of (for example) an oral narrative.

4: Narrativity Plot of a hypertext narrative.

4: Narrativity Three narrative levels?

4: Narrativity Section summary: • "Plotting" is the intermediate stage between story and narrative discourse.

4: Narrativity Section summary: • "Plotting" is the intermediate stage between story and narrative discourse. • We can now talk of the topography of a narrative and extend the use of the term 'plot' to include its use as a graphical term, which in this case is a linear trace through 3D information space.

5: Narrative & Medium • There is no such thing as a "non-linear narrative." • It is the medium that is linear or non-linear.

5: Narrative & Medium • Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. • Star Trek. • Soap Operas.

6: Some Problem Areas Problems associated with hypertextual environments: • The user is forced to continually switch cognitive mode. • Segmentation. • There is no fixed sequence. • There is no definite beginning or end. • Therefore, no clear indication of limits or size. • No fixed 'text'.

6: Some Problem Areas • The user is forced to continually switch cognitive mode. Answer: Get rid of 'pages'.

6: Some Problem Areas 2. Segmentation. Answer: It's not really the problem it's made out to be. We deal with it successfully all the time. We should be thinking of opportunities for closure, and for manifesting the rhythm of narrative.

6: Some Problem Areas 3, 4, 5. There is no fixed sequence/no definite beginning or end/no clear indication of limits or size. Answer: The whole point of using narrative is to ameliorate these problems. Designers must restrict access to non-relevant materials and provide clear spatio-temporal markers.

6: Some Problem Areas 6. No fixed 'text'. Answer: The multi-perspective nature of the narrative ILE is one of its benefits.

7: Summary & Conclusion • Our view of narrative is distorted by the predominantly literary nature of the discourse. • All narratives are linear, but interactive narrative allows us the opportunity to leave behind static and inert narratives embedded in fixed media.

7: Summary & Conclusion Thank You

8: References Bang, J. (1993) 'The Meaning of Plot and Narrative' in Andersen, P., Holmqvist, B., & Jensen, J. (Eds) The Computer As Medium. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. Chatman, S. (1978) Story and Discourse. Ithaca, London: Cornell University Press. Crawford, C. (2005) On Interactive Storytelling. Berkeley: New Riders. Labov, W. & Waletzky, J. (1997) Narrative Analysis: Oral Versions of Personal Experience, in Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7 (1-4), 3-38. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Landow, G. (2006) Hypertext 3.0. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Laurel, B. (1993) Computers As Theatre. Boston: Addison Wesley. Manovich, L. (2001) The Language of New Media. Cambridge, London: The MIT Press. Murray, M. (1997) Hamlet on the Holodeck. Cambridge: MIT Press. Ong, W. J. (1982) Orality and Literacy.London: Methuen & Co. Propp, V. (1968 [1928]) The Morphology of the Folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Paul Hazel Narrative & New Media