Center for Digital Narrative

The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) is designed to move radically beyond the state of the art to define a new, independent research field specifically focused on digital narrative. Narratives are fundamental to human existence: they structure individual and collective understandings of essential matters ranging from our conceptions of the self to our understanding of the nation-state to our perception and caretaking of the environment. We are at a critical juncture where those people who understand how to use digital technology to tell stories have the power to change the way we think and adjust the trajectory of society. Digital narratives are new forms of storytelling driven by computation. Contemporary life is increasingly driven by digital narratives–whether anti-vax conspiracy theories that proliferated on Facebook, storyworlds emerging from a computer game industry that now dwarfs other sectors of the entertainment industry, or AI-driven systems that generate fiction and even computer code. Yet we lack a comprehensive and cross-sectoral understanding of how digital narratives function, to what ends they are being used, and how they are shaping culture now and in the future. CDN addresses this need by developing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for digital narrative using innovative research methods organized in five integrated nodes: CDN will merge theory and practice in essential humanities-led research on digital narrative in Electronic Literature, Computer Games and Interactive Digital Narrative, Computational Narrative Systems, Social Media and Network Narratives, and Extended Digital Narratives. CDN brings together theoretical work, documentation and analysis of current and emerging genres, and experimental research into new forms and modalities of digital narrative. In doing so, it establishes an international research hub of interdisciplinary research in the field.

The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) is designed to move radically beyond the state of the art to define a new, independent research field specifically focused on digital narrative. Digital narratives are new forms of storytelling driven by computation. Contemporary life is increasingly driven by digital narratives–whether anti-vax conspiracy theories proliferating on Facebook, storyworlds emerging from a computer game industry that now dwarfs other sectors of the entertainment industry, or machine learning systems that generate fiction. Yet we lack a comprehensive and cross-sectoral understanding of how digital narratives function, to what ends they are being used, and how they are shaping culture now and in the future. CDN addresses this need by developing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for digital narrative using innovative research methods organized in five integrated nodes corresponding to our secondary objectives. CDN will merge theory and practice in essential humanities-led research on digital narrative in Electronic Literature, Computer Games and Interactive Digital Narrative, Computational Narrative Systems, Social Media and Network Narratives, and Extended Digital Narratives. The University of Bergen (UiB) is uniquely positioned for this work. Our research groups in electronic literature, digital culture, and game studies have already made foundational contributions to those fields and our PIs are at the nexus of global research networks. CDN builds upon these substantial research strengths to immediately bring Norwegian research in digital narrative to the forefront. CDN will establish Norway as a world leader in innovative humanities research and train a new generation of humanities researchers who will be ready to address future challenges. CDN will deepen our knowledge of how digital technologies impact one of the most fundamental human activities: how we tell the stories that shape our lives and understanding of the world.