PARN - Narrative Strategies 2012

Over the last decades, Narrative, with a capital N, has engaged in the challenge of new technology and media. As a result, Narrative has proposed all new kinds of perspectives on what we can call a narrative or a story, and its elements (Story world, plot, dramatic structure, audience participation, etc.).

Today Narrative engages its authors as well as its audience through a multitude of forms. Story driven pervasive games that merge action and interaction on the screen with that in the wider world. Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), which involve interactive stories in which the audience plays the part of a crucial character. Physical Narratives that augment spaces and real objects with information and media delivery capability. Locative Narratives which use the real settings of a city as their story canvas.

In such narrative experimentations the Authors as well as their Audiences discover and push new creative boundaries. Authors need to push dramatic elements of the story to embrace new media and technologies, challenge their Audiences with new interactive interfaces and push new modes of delivery. Single users as well as collective audience decisions and actions drive the narrative, resolve puzzles, progress the story and ultimately achieve resolutions, catharsis and conclusions. Authors need to develop not only narrative arcs, but whole narrative strategies. Audiences can rarely simply sit back and enjoy the ride.

The goal of this Symposium is to open up the discussion between academics, artists, designers, writers, makers as well as industry and government parties such as entertainment and production companies, museums and the tourism sector, regarding the content, design principles and aesthetics of these exciting new narrative and entertainment genres.