Abstract

The article investigates digital storytelling in the context of heritage communication. Digital communication augments the symbolic, aesthetic and social aspects of heritage and reveals the deep affective value of narration. Storytelling combines oral narrative (mode) in the form of a script (genre) but uses a variety of media (blog, web page, social networks) to create meaning. Emotive language represents a key element in the construction of individual and collective identity. The discursive aspects involved in storytelling are illustrated by the work of Daniel Meadows, an English photographer and participatory media specialist who pioneered digital storytelling techniques in Britain. Influenced by Ivan Illich's ideas as presented in "Tools for Conviviality" (1975) and the activity of the Center for Digital Storytelling at the University of California, Meadows produced fictional stories that focused on the participants' creativity, dramatising traditions and life-stories. The article describes how the visual combined with narration foregrounds an affective and experiential approach to heritage. By turning a photobook into a digital story, Meadows enhances the performative aspect of his work, and he realises Illich's understanding of human relations as emotive, non-rational, and flourishing in a postindustrial society where communities implement their own identity by sharing.