…and a Bit of (Narrative) Theory

October 6th, 2010

I’m interested in hearing/sharing ideas regarding the structure of online linked data from the point of view of (historical) narrative theory. Some of the questions that I find relevant in looking at how historical sources are available online, disseminated across institutional repositories, commercial enterprises, and the social media jungle, are:

  • What are the main “narratives” underlining the presence of digital cultural heritage content online?
  • How is “official history” challenged? And, is it really?
  • What are the implications of a fragmented authorship model that social media and collaborative tools seem to embody (or at least, suggest and make possible)?
  • What are the implications of an expanding use of Creative Commons licenses?
  • How do digital literacy and the conditions of online access worldwide  relate to the democratization of knowledge that linked data aims at achieving?
  • In other words, “who” is telling “what” (and to whom) in making linked historical data available online?

My main theoretical references are very much rooted in the modernist tradition (Phenomenology, Frankfurt School, Structuralism, but also Dada, Surrealism, Situationism and Punk), and my practices are eclectic and very media-oriented. I am deeply interested to learn of different approaches and problems being faced in a variety of fields, since I do not believe that theory can only exist closed off in a seminar room.


4 Responses to “…and a Bit of (Narrative) Theory”

  1. Raymond Yee on October 7, 2010 8:38 pm

    I’m interested in learning more theory and attending this session if our discussion will be accessible to people like me who are not deeply acquainted with the assumptions and methodology of “Phenomenology, Frankfurt School, Structuralism, but also Dada, Surrealism, Situationism and Punk”) I’m not totally unaware of the history of philosophy but know little about the various social science schools of thought. Thanks!

  2. Francesco Spagnolo on October 7, 2010 10:08 pm

    Thank you for your interest. It was a bit of a shot in the dark for me…

    My idea was not to “do theory” – but to address questions from a variety of perspectives. The questions I asked come from my own background, and I’d like to learn more about others.

    So, if we were to meet, I’d focus on the questions, and would invite you and others to add to the preliminary list I began drafting here.

  3. Ryan Shaw on October 8, 2010 1:20 am

    Francesco, I’d be very interested in this. Though I didn’t mention narrative explicitly in my post about history beyond the facts, that is precisely the “form” ignored by many current approaches to online linked data for history and cultural heritage. In my dissertation I tried to outline an approach to reconciling database vs. narrative in online linked data.

  4. Disney, Stories and Ownership at THATCamp Bay Area on October 9, 2010 2:27 pm

    […] now I am a bit overwhelmed by concepts of narrative theory, as Francesco Spagnolo highlights and “games, art and Story […]

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