How does Manovich see the opposition between database and narrative? Manovich talks about computer games as a form of Interactive Narrative. Can you speculate on other forms of interactive narratives (in our culture or imagined) that aren't computer games?

Manovich defines a database as an unordered collection of items and a narrative as a structured trajectory through those items. The reason a database is the enemy of narrative is because its items are random, unordered, and can change. The storytelling aspect or cause-and-effect nature of narrative cannot be found. However, that does not mean a narrative cannot be created from a database. Underneath all media objects can be found a database. Therefore, a database can support a narrative, but it cannot create one on its own.

One example of a technology based interactive narrative is virtual reality. While VR does support video games, it can also be used to explore museums, walk the streets of Europe, or even take an imaginative spacewalk. These are experiences which certainly create a self-formed narrative, and which rely upon a database to function. The narration becomes the aspect that is interactive, as the user makes the choices of where they will go and what they will do in this new environment.

An example of an interactive narrative found in society is a television experience such as the Stranger Things Experience. Individuals can go to a location and act as participants in a world that they view on television. In the case of Stranger Things, you venture inside Hawkins Lab for an immersive experience featuring a new Stranger Things storyline in which you are the main character. The narrative is structured, but it is also interactive.

Database as Symbolic Form was written 19 years ago now. What has changed? What hasn't changed? Did Manovich's predictions come true?

The technological world is a fast-paced environment and much has changed since Manovich’s release of this article 19 years ago. He wrote from the perspective of someone living in very early internet days. For example, describing video game narratives as beating a level or winning a race. Video game development has far surpassed these simple narratives, as well as the medium of a computer screen. Manovich also wrote prior to the invention of social media, the unlimited scroll, and AI – an entirely new way to experience and analyze a database of information. While Manovich correctly identified several potential outcomes of database and narrative conjunction, his scope was much smaller than the reality we live in today. But while his article may be outdated, the central ideas are still true. Manovich’s definition of a database being at the heart of all media objects is accurate, as was his belief that databases would become an important symbolic form. And, as Manovich concluded, new media designers still have to learn how to merge database and narrative into new forms.

Can you draw a connection between Manovich's ideas and your plan for your final project?

Our final project is a website which displays all the work that we’ve completed in the class this semester. That website can either be informative and simplistic (like a pure database), or it can create an interactive experience. While I have not of yet put much thought into what I want my index to look like, I know that it will be more than just a random list of hyperlinks (which is what it has been all semester). In following with Manovich’s idea of an interactive narrative, I can create a database where users choose the path of their experience. I intend to design my index around Manovich’s question: “How can our new abilities to store vast amounts of data, to automatically classify, index, link, search and instantly retrieve it lead to new kinds of narratives?” (19). To modify this question for the purpose of our class: how can my new abilities to code vast amounts of data, to automatically classify, link, create, and display it lead to a narrative user experience? That is for me to discover.