Digital Narrative

Snezana Milosavljevic Milic, PhD, Department of Serbian Studies, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia

Dejan Milutinovic, PhD, Department of Serbian Studies, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia

Snezana Bozic, PhD, Department of Serbian Studies, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia

Course Type: Facultative/ Humanities-focused 

Keywords: Digital narratology, Narrative identity. Multimedia

University Department Level Credits Length Medium
University of Nis Faculty of Philosophy Department of Serbian Studies PostGraduate PhD Program Course 6 15 weeks In-person

Course Description

The main purpose of the course is to gain insight into the correlation of modern digital technologies and narrative practices; to observe the interdependence between narrative strategies and digital platforms on which they are realized; to gain insight into the functional and thematic aspects of narrative in the wider cultural and technological sphere.

Weekly Outline

Week 1. Parameters of narrative.   

Week 2. Proto-stories and genre matrices  and franchize (Blade Runner – P. K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner 2049, Blade Runner – Marvel Comics (1982), Blade Runner: Revelations (2018 – video game), Blade Runner 2049 – Soundtrack (2017).

Week 3. Interactive and ludic aspect of the reception of digital narratives.

Week 4.    Narrative environment and recentering. 

Week  5.   Dynamic structure and feedback of digital narrative practices;

Week  6.   Hypertextual narrative.

Week 7.    Electronic and / or ergodic literature.

Week 8.    Narrative of video games.(The Last of Us Part, GTA V, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – (exercises: students play for an hour and analyze narratives)

Week  9. Textual and digital forms of narrativization and fictionalization in everyday life (advertising, tourist brochure, culinary recipe).

Week 10. Narratives of social networks (mim and story).

Week 11. Narrative identity of digital profiles: Facebook, Instagram, personal blog, story.

Week 12. Digital narrative as an indicator of social interaction (authoring, replicability, virality, performativity, humor).

Week 13. Ethical and ideological potential of digital narratives.

Week 14. Narratives of digital media and cultural policy.

Week  15. Perspectives of digital narratology.

Course Objectives ​

  • Enabling students to critically approach different types of digital narratives. 
  • Mastering competencies for interpretive and research activities in working with digital aspects of narratives. 
  • Acquisition of competencies for the application of theoretical knowledge in scientific research.

Reading

  • Ryan Marie-Laure.(ed), Narrative Across Media. The Language of Storytelling, Lincoln, 2004 (Digital Media Chapter); 
  • Interactive Digital Narrative. History, Theory and Practice (Eds. H. Koenitz, et. all), Routledge, 2017. 
  • Complexity and Interactive Digital Narrative (INDCOR).pdf (White Paper)
  • Ryan, Marie-Laure. 2001.Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Gere, Charlie. 2001. Digital Culture. Belgrade: Clio.
  • Buchanan, Mark. 2010. Nexus: Social Networks and Small World Theory. Helix, Smederevo, 2010.
  • Aarseth, Espen. 1997. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Sensing History: Contextualizing Artifacts with Sensory Interactions and Narrative Design, Jean Ho Chu, Daniel Harley, Jamie Kwan, Melanie McBride, Ali Mazalek, Synaesthetic Media Lab & Responsive Ecologies Lab, Georgia Tech. Atlanta, GA, USA, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada 
  • The Handbook of Narrative Analysis. Ed. Anna De Fina, Alexandra Georgakopoulou. John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2015.
  • Limor Shifman. Memes In Digital Culture. MIT, 2014.
  • Digital Folklore. Ed. by Olia Lialina, Dragan Espenschied. ‎ Merz Akademie 2009.
  • INDCOR white paper 3: Interactive Digital Narratives and Interaction. Koenitz, Hartmut et al., (2020).
  • Know Your Meme – https://knowyourmeme.com/

Viewings

  • https://artsandculture.google.com/.

IDE Artifacts

  • APLIKACIJA VOLAND, The first immersive theater in Serbia

Major Assignments (being assignments whose value is of 25% or more)

There are no special Major Assignments.

Course Best Practices

In line with the main topics of the course, student work include:

  • Mim as the new literary genre – challenges and best practices
  • Construction of narrative identity on social media
  • Graphic narrative between verbal and visual media
  • Literature across different media: radio drama, theatre and film