Narrative As Process: Subject, verb, predicate Winter 2008

What is a Narrative in the context of research? Facts/events organized to create meaning Basic form: Some event is transformed into something else Usually something meaningful must occur, otherwise no reason to report the event In research, the areas of interest may be in: a) The topic (its structure), b) the procedure (how the topic is handled/ transformed), or c) the outcome process So narrative is about giving something form and/or a context Winter 2008

Inventory as narrative What are the elements/components of a system? (Cosmic Thing, Damien Ortega, 2002) Presentation of Disassembly: Represent the system through its parts Let the parts express themselves Can the parts be re-organized in new ways? Can something new be re- invented through exploration from unintended, unexpected perspectives? Winter 2008

What about processes? Create an extended list of multiple approaches Consider previously identified errors, discarded solutions, as potential resources Do research while developing (who else has addressed the topic and how) Design prototypes/model Winter 2008

Iterative Approach Repeat the process The more often you repeat, the more you will push your self-imposed boundaries beyond their limits Redesign: Leads to cohesion & resolution Genotype: Generic condition of a system Phenotype: Any observed quality of an organism (variation) Winter 2008

Transformational procedural experimental rules Modify the elements or the process Magnify, condense, re-arrange Transpose, reverse opposites, inside/out Substitute, combine, blend, distort Winter 2008

Project Presentation Consider the results Project is a “work-in-progress”: (Let the data speak for itself) Create Closure: Re-format to fit presentation expectations (sometimes not!) Winter 2008

Now Back to Time Based Narrative Definitions Winter 2008

Narrative Structure (Todorov) Most basic narrative consists of a stable situation that is disrupted (transition) eventually ariving at a final stable situation which in some way is different from the start Start: Situation definition Event: Event, transition, action, verb, etc. Closure: Creating meaning through closure Narrative normally evolves in time: Time often represented in space (graph) But there are other forms: (proposition, inventory, etc.) Winter 2008

Literary/Cinematic Narrative (Gérard Genette) Order: Temporal-order of the narrative Duration: Timing structure of the narrative Frequency: relationship between event and its retelling Mood: Distance and perspective Distance: Is it told in direct, indirect mode? Perspective: point of view From a fixed position Outside the action Narrator knows less then the characters Voice: What kind of narrator implied? Winter 2008

Organizing the Image: Visual Narrative Tools Sequence: implies plot development Divided screen: subsections imply sequence Shape: Horizontal implies time length Spatial proximity: object placed next to another signifies relationship Direction: left-to-right, or reverse Scale: signifies hierarchy Repetition: Rhythmic emphasis Winter 2008

Bibliography Conceptual Blockbusting, Adams Poetics of the Prose, Todorov Narrative Discourse, Genette Winter 2008