Abstract
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.
Highlights
To persuade or promoteThe persuasive tendency so common of the Griersonian style of documentary filmmaking of trying to educate the public is present in digital storytelling, though in the form of testimonials
One can say that at the heart of digital storytelling lies a desire to get to the core of someone’s life history, to reach a deep understanding of an individual through audiovisual means
My intention throughout this paper is to explore how documentary theory can be applied to digital storytelling so that we enrich both our understanding of digital stories and of how emerging digital forms impact documentary filmmaking
Summary
The persuasive tendency so common of the Griersonian style of documentary filmmaking of trying to educate the public is present in digital storytelling, though in the form of testimonials. Instead of the proverbial voice of God, the voice of the self tells us how things really were, and this is even harder to contestii. It is the indexing of digital storytelling as the honest and truthful account from the part of the digital storyteller that aids its persuasive intentions
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