Open AccessDigital storytelling as an emerging documentary form
Author(s) -
Ana Luisa Sanchez-Laws
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
seminar.net
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1504-4831
DOI - 10.7577/seminar.2426
Subject(s) - filmmaking , storytelling , digital storytelling , realism , documentary film , sociology , aesthetics , visual arts , narrative , art , media studies , literature , pedagogy , movie theater
This contribution presents the idea that digital storytelling can be fruitfully studied using concepts and perspectives from documentary theory. Two definitions of digital storytelling are analysed and compared to how documentary filmmaking has been characterized. From this comparison, it is possible to argue that digital storytelling works within a contextual contract similar to that of documentary filmmaking, especially in regard to the positioning of the audience and the media product. The study of digital storytelling might accordingly benefit from the ongoing discussions in documentary theory about authorial responsibility and claims of realism and truthfulness.