Cultural memory in its spatio-narrative-augmented reality

Abstract

Abstract This interdisciplinary article proposes a framework for the employment of augmented reality (AR), informed by spatio-narrative data drawn from literary texts on the basis of architectural elements, as a means of remediation that can provide rich opportunities for a creative re-contextualization of narrative contents within the urban space, thus reinforcing cultural memory as part of the collective memory. The article focuses on the dynamic of literary texts in visitor/inhabitant engagement with the cultural memory of a specific urban tissue. It then proceeds to present the theoretical background on the notions of urban space, cultural memory, collective memory, narrative theory and spatialization, before discussing the capabilities of AR applications in expressing aspects of cultural memory and enhancing the role of spatialization in the understanding of cultural memory. Finally, in a case study, the first part of the proposed framework is implemented on Heraklion, Crete, an insular metropolis of the Eastern Mediterranean. The relevant spatio-narrative elements of cultural memory are drawn from eight literary texts by six native writers, generating eight distinct conceptual maps of the city to be utilized by the AR medium.