Digital Narratives
Code: 43963 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Journalism and Digital Content Innovation | OB | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Rosario Lacalle Zalduendo
- Email:
- rosario.lacalle@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No requirements
Objectives and Contextualisation
The fast evolution of digital technologies in the 21st century poses continuous challenges to narratives. However, the storytelling in the digital era include the essential elements (themes, motives, stereotypes, etc.) of ancestral myths and tales, which are incessantly recombined in order to adapt them to new formats.
The objective of this course is to provide students with the essential tools and concepts to create and analyze different types of stories made through different platforms, in an effective, interactive, critical and responsible way.
The first part of the course focuses on the elements and structures of narratives. In the second part, the characteristics of the different genres and formats are defined, as well as their evolution in relation to digital storytelling. In the third part, the role of the reader/viewer/user in the construction and interpretation of texts is examined.
Gender perspective
The study of narratives is particularly useful in the critical analysis of gender representations in the digital media. One of the main objectives of the course is to examine the construction of stereotypes in a critical and reflective way.
Note: The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
Competences
- Adapt to new situations, have leadership ability and initiative, while maintaining creativity.
- Analyse and evaluate trends in the digital narration of information companies, and be able to propose alternatives for the construction of the story in a digital and interactive context.
- Apply tools of management, analysis, organisation and planning of information in accordance with objectives and specific information projects.
- Create and manage journalistic publications containing innovative elements from the applied introduction of ICT.
- Generate innovate and competitive proposals for applied research.
- Knowledge and understanding that provide a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and / or applying ideas, often in a research context.
- Students can communicate their conclusions and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously.
- Understand and analyse the trends and dynamics of change in the communicative, informative and regulatory ecosystem of the media company in the twenty-first century.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse and evaluate the narrative characteristics of the placement company's news products.
- Analyse and evaluate trends in digital narration in news companies and apply alternative production methods that involve systems of narrative cooperation.
- Build a research project whose results propose solutions applied to the management and production of digital news content.
- Cooperate in team environments and help to achieve the objectives set.
- Identify and critically compare the changing contexts of digital narrative in terms of the platforms for producing and consuming news.
- Identify the tools associated with the positioning of digital content aimed at solving specific problems.
- Plan innovative positioning strategies for the journalistic products created by the simulated editorial team.
- Plan the processes for introducing innovation within the newstelling strategies in an editorial team.
- Propose an applied research project to be developed in the master's dissertation.
- Propose practical solutions based on developing a news product in a multidisciplinary team.
- Respect the professional development space, adapting to the needs and routines of working groups within the news company.
- Take charge of everyday situations in news production and processing, paying strict attention to achieving objectives.
- Understand and distinguish between scientific research methodologies and procedures for investigating trends and problem areas in 21st century communicative phenomena.
- Understand digital-information architectures and systems and apply them to 21st century news companies.
- Use search-engine positioning strategies to communicate news stories effectively.
- Use tools for gathering and processing information and documents needed to construct the theoretical or conceptual framework of the master's dissertation.
Content
Digital Narratives
- Concepts of narrative
- Relationship between technology and narrative
- Structure and construction of stories
- Characters and roles
Genres and discourses of Digital Narratives
- Genres and formats
- The social discourses in digital narratives
Interpretation and Interaction
- Intermediality, transmedia, and fandom in the age of AI
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Autonomous training activities | 75 | 3 | 13, 3, 5, 7, 15 |
| Master classes | 45 | 1.8 | 2, 13, 5, 8 |
| Supervised training activities | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 13, 3, 4, 10, 15 |
- Master classes
- Problem solving classes / cases / exercises
- Presentation of works in the classroom
- Tutorials
- Preparation of works
- Individual study
- Reading of articles / chapters / reports of interest, etc.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance, active participation and assignements in the classroom | 25% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 14, 13, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15 |
| Exam | 25% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 14, 13, 5, 6 |
| Work submissions | 50% | 0 | 0 | 2, 14, 13, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 9, 11, 12, 16 |
Continued evaluation
The evaluation is the result of the proportional average of the different activities carried out.
Attendance and active participation in the classroom represents 25% of the final grade for the course. The works delivered 50%, while another 25% corresponds to the exam Absences will be penalized with a detriment of the final 10% grade for each 3-hour session or fraction (except documented justifications). Deliveries of works outside the scheduled dates will not be accepted.
The delivery of the results of the work carried out and the exam will include the date and time of the corresponding review. Students who wish to do so may take the review whenever they request it within a maximum period of two days from the delivery of the results. Subsequent requests for review will not be accepted.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find information on the Virtual Campus about the description of the activities, materials, etc.
Recuperation: continued evaluation
According to regulations, in order to be able to participate in the recovery process, studentsmust have previously been assessed for at least 2/3 of the total assessable activities of the subject.
In the period for the reassessment, failed exams may be repeated if the mark is not less than 3.5 (unrealized exams score 0 in the calculationof the mean). The final assignment of the course is an assessable task that cannot be reassigned in case of failure. The reason is that completing a task of this nature is practically impossible within the time available during the reassignment period.
The readings, discussions and exercises carried out in the seminars are linked to work in the classroom, so they can’t be re-assessed (unrealized activities score 0 in the calculation of the mean).
Assignments and exercises that have not been previously agreed upon with the course coordinator or that do not follow the established guidelines will be considered NON-ASSESSABLE.
In the case of a second enrollment, students have to make an exam. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the exam.
If a student makes an irregularity (copy,plagiarism, etc.), the corresponding assessment act will be rated with 0. In the event of several irregularities, the final grade for the course would be 0.
The professors teaching the subject can indicate to the students that, for the correct development of the class and to ensure good coexistence in the classroom, it is advised not to use electronic devices or screens during the class, except when indicate otherwise due to a specific teaching situation.
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for specify tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, or translation. Teachers will eventually indicate other specific uses of technology in due course. As for the students, they must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how AI has influenced the process and outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions in severe cases
Bibliography
BASIC REFERENCES
- Bruzzi, Stella (2016) Making a genre: the case of the contemporary true crime documentary, Law and Humanities, 10:2, 249-280. doi: 10.1080/17521483.2016.1233741
- Campbell, Joseph (2024[2023]. El ABCD de la mitología. Mito y sentido. Atalanta.
- Carter, Angela (2016) Introducción. Cuentos de hadas. Editorial Impedimenta.
- Cobley, Paul (2014) In the begining: The end. Narrative. Routledge (2ond edition).
- Fisher, Daniel et al. (2023) SusTelling: Storytelling for Sustainability. Fischer, S. Fücker, H. Selm, A. Sundermann (eds.) Narrating Sustainability through Storytelling. Routledge.
- García-Avilés, J. A. (2024). Cómo se cuenta la historia: Tipología de las narrativas interactivas en el periodismo. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 30(4), pp. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/emp.98652
- Gottschall, Johanttan (2021) The Universal Grammar. The Story Paradox: How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears them Down (pp. 97-122). Basic Books.
- Haoran Chu, Sixiao Liu (2024) Can AI tell good stories? Narrative transportation and persuasion with ChatGPT, Journal of Communication, 74(5), 347-358. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqae029
- Keven, Nazin (2024) “What is narrativity?” Ratio. An International Journal of Analitic Philosophy, 37(2-3), 204-214.
- Lacalle, Charo (2022) Indignidades digitales. (In)dignidades mediáticas en la sociedad digital (pp. 139-154). Cátedra.
- Lacalle, Charo; Gómez-Morales, Beatriz; Vicent, Mirey; Narvaiza, Sara (2025) “She Looks Like She’d Be a Filthy Pig inBed”: Online Misogyny and Denigration of Women Politicians. Violence Against Women, 2025, pp. 1-22. doi: 10.1177/10778012241313479
- Lacalle, Charo (2024) El "regreso" del autor en el true crime: Tor, tretze cases i tres (TV3, 2024)”. EU-topias, 28, 2024, pp. 53-63. Availabe at: https://turia.uv.es/index.php/eutopias/index
- Lambert, Joe (2018) The world of digital storytelling. Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community (pp. 37-49). Routledge.
- López-Cano, Rubén (2024) De los videomemes a Tom & Jerry. La música cuenta en el audiovisual (pp. 53-71). Universidad de Jaen.
- Luginbühl, Martin (2024). TV news on Instagram: Affordances, genres, journalistic cultures. Discourse & Communication, 19(1), 46-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813241270395
- Renner, Karl Nikolaus (2020) Facts and Factual Narration in Journalism. M. Fludernik and M.L. Ryan (eds.) Narrative Factuality: A Handbook (pp.465-478). De Gruyter.
- Ryan, Marie-Laure (2004) Will new media produce new narratives? M.-L. Ryan (ed.) Narrative across Media (pp. 337-359). University of Nebraska Press
- Sorapure, Madeleine (2022) Data Narratives: Visualization and Interactivity in Representations of COVID- 19. P. Dawson & M. Mäkelä (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Narrative Theory (pp. 55-68). Routledge.
- Tudor, Andrew (2012) Genre. B. K. Grant (ed.) Film Genre Reader IV (pp. 1-11). University of Texas Press.
- Vogler, Christopher (2002[1992]. El viaje del escritor: Las estructuras míticas para escritores, guionistas, dramaturgos y novelistas. Ma Non Troppo.
Software
None
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 60 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |