Abstract
In this chapter, digital storytelling is examined as means of cultural heritage preservation by focusing on personal attachment to stories themselves. In the contemporary digital society, stories are being told and they are being told differently. Thus, digital storytelling is becoming a significant part of social life and seems to be imposing a trend in humanitarian issues. This chapter attempts to examine the issue through a brief literature review on the connection of digital storytelling and cultural heritage. Examples of small-scale studies conducted within academic theses (mainly postgraduate) or funded projects are utilized in order to record the telling or retelling cultural stories, whether in everyday life or in more formal contexts, such as museum visits. Overall, the aim of the chapter is to reach an understanding of how short stories can redefine the way we perceive cultural elements, following the current societal trends for speed and increased interaction.
Top(Digital) Storytelling
For thousands of years, stories have been the medium for teaching principles and moral values (Brady, 1997). At the same time, they were means of entertainment, education, preservation of cultural heritage and formation of moral values. Especially while written language had not appeared yet, storytelling was the only way to transmit culture, values and history of a social group (Egan, 1989).
One can find many definitions of what storytelling is in the literature. One of the most accurate is that of Kim & Ball-Rokeach (2006), according to whom Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal images and elements of a story, while enhancing the recipient’s imagination. In this way they describe a dynamic and ever-changing relationship between the teller, the story and the audience. Miller (2008) describes story as a series of real or fictional events in which causality is somehow entangled.
As a word, it comprises of two elements; story and telling. Story, corresponds to the story itself which has a specific structure, is classified into genres and has commonly accepted structural elements and characteristics that have been extensively studied and recorded in the literature. Telling, describes the connection between the teller and the audience, but not only. It also involves the space and time in which the telling itself takes place, but also the space and time in which the actual story takes place. These space-time can coincide or differ significantly. For example, one can today tell a story that will take place on another planet in a few thousand years or a story that took place in a different part of the earth a few thousand years ago.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Multiliteracy: Is the ability to identify, interpret, create, and communicate meaning across a variety of visual, oral, corporal, musical and alphabetical forms of communication.
Digital Storytelling: Is the combination of traditional, oral narration with multimedia and communication tools combining different types of multimedia material, including images, text, video clips, audio narration and music to tell a short story on a particular topic or theme.
Cultural Heritage: Are the cultural resources of an area such as language and customs of the residents but also resources and activities as for instance: fine arts, literature, history, music, dancing, shopping, and sports facilities.
Cultural Property: Includes the physical, or “tangible” cultural heritage, such as artworks.
Natural Heritage: Is an important part of a society's heritage, encompassing the countryside and natural environment, including flora and fauna (biodiversity), as well as geological elements (geodiversity).
Intangible Cultural Heritage: Consists of non-physical aspects of a particular culture, more often maintained by social customs during a specific period in history.