The dispersion of transmedia storytelling

Language-based storytelling and oral-based storytelling both centered around an original narrative or text, but while an original narrative is an important element in digital storytelling, music, sound effects, images, visual effects, and other elements (likely scent, in the near future), are just as important.

No single element takes the leading or central role in digital storytelling. Images serve to enliven the narrative, which inspires certain music or visual effects, which in turn can inspire new stories. Once again looking back to the story of the Trojan War in ancient Greece, such a process can even be seen in the way the narrative’s episodes expanded and fluctuated from orator to orator, with individual variations spawning entirely new narratives until the saga we know today was eventually formed.

Although centered around the actual events of the Trojan War, the narrative itself underwent countless transformations. The producers and consumers of the saga are difficult to differentiate, and the story changes according to the personal experiences of the orator. In a way, this endless cycle of variation and recreation is what unites oral literature with digital storytelling.

Digital storytelling is much more integrative than traditional storytelling, incorporating non-linguistic elements that spawn new narratives. Images, visual and audio effects are not just augmentations to the story but are an integral and inseparable part of it, meaning that variety, multi-sensory stimulation, and multiple media channels are a must in digital storytelling.