[Commlist] New book: Interactive Documentary: Theory and Debate

New book -  Interactive Documentary: Theory and Debate

Exploring the dizzying collection of work at the intersection of 
documentary and digital media practice this new book explores key 
debates in the growing field of interactive documentary. The book is 
grounded in the analysis of multiple examples of recent (and not so 
recent) digital documentary work from documentary games to virtual 
reality, database, data visualisations and simulations. It is also 
grounded in a consideration of key debates: what are the implications of 
a turn toward non-narrative form for documentary? How helpful is empathy 
as a way of conceptualising the positioning of audiences in virtual 
reality experiences? and what does it mean to think about simulating the 
real? The book explores polyvocality, participation, and political voice 
as well as the sociality and performativity of digital documentary 
practice focusing inquiry on how our engagement with realities might be 
shifting (or not).

Chapter one considers the documentary database and nonlinearity and 
polyvocality which have been persistent, albeit marginal, desires in 
documentary history. Digital media, and particularly contemporary 
database documentary practice take these desires as a starting point for 
practice. Going beyond a simple celebration of the nonlinear, the 
chapter considers how contemporary database forms represent realities. 
Chapter two considers participation in interactive documentary and the 
ways in which knowledge claims are grounded in the social relationships 
interactive documentaries foster. The chapter aims to build a framework 
for thinking about participation as voice in documentary. Building on 
this, the third chapter considers participation through documentary, 
examining a number of projects to consider the different ways in which 
interactive documentary projects connect with political processes. From 
micro-documentary to more mainstream projects, the connection between 
documentary media and the spaces of politics is explored. Chapter four 
focuses on documentary games and the ways in which they might engage 
realities - playfully, per formatively and partially. Making connections 
with documentary practice - subjunctive documentary, re-enactment and 
staging - the chapter develops simulation as a term with currency for 
digital documentary scholarship. Building on this, chapter five 
considers virtual reality documentary as a form of first person media. 
In place of sweeping claims about the effects of VR technologies, the 
chapter explores the different ways in which viewers are positioned 
within experiences. Finally, the book considers data and documentary 
practice. Making connections with documentary history - both social 
science and the surrealism of Mass Observation - the chapter considers 
some of the different roles that data has come to play in interactive 
documentaries.

Kate Nash is Associate Professor in the School of Media and 
Communication at the University of Leeds and Co-Editor of Studies in 
Documentary Film

More info here 
https://www.routledge.com/Interactive-Documentary-Theory-and-Debate/Nash/p/book/9781138631472 
<https://www.routledge.com/Interactive-Documentary-Theory-and-Debate/Nash/p/book/9781138631472> 


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------