Paul Hazel Narrative

1
Paul HazelNarrative New Media
2
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

3
2 Some Basic Terms

• A narrative is a complete and coherent
  representation of any event or series of events,
  real or imagined.

4
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.

5
2 Some Basic Terms

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

6
2 Some Basic Terms

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

7
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)

8
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)

9
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)

10
3 Order Selection
A single path through a hypertext environment.
11
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'.

12
3 Order Selection
A single path through the events of the day.
13
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.

14
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.

15
4 Narrativity
16
4 Narrativity
Derived from http//web.cn.edu/kwheeler/freytag.h
tml
17
4 Narrativity
Adapted from http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramati
c_structure
18
4 Narrativity
Freytag's Pyramid with Propp's classifications.
19
4 Narrativity
Freytag's Pyramid with Labov Waletzky's
classifications.
20
4 Narrativity
Bang's (1993) model of "linear storytelling."
21
4 Narrativity
Laurel's (1993) "contemporary" dramatic arc.
22
4 Narrativity
Plot of (for example) an oral narrative.
23
4 Narrativity
Plot of a hypertext narrative.
24
4 Narrativity
Three narrative levels?
25
4 Narrativity

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

26
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.

27
5 Narrative Medium

• There is no such thing as a "non-linear
  narrative."
• It is the medium that is linear or non-linear.

28
5 Narrative Medium

• Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
• Star Trek.
• Soap Operas.

29
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'.

30
6 Some Problem Areas

• The user is forced to continually switch
  cognitive mode.
• Answer Get rid of 'pages'.

31
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.

32
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.

33
6 Some Problem Areas

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

34
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.

35
7 Summary Conclusion

• Thank You

36
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.