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priests). In this sense, the students short films linked to the above projects
are typical representations of the communicative act of remembering since
the digital stories discussed are manifestations of the personal experience of
still-living individuals in a reinterpretation with the heir.
The communitarization of memory is actualized in the process of sharing,
which can take place offline or online. Online publishing makes short
films available to a wider audience on the Internet, making the publicity
of the narrative indefinable. Digital stories, as cinematic manifestations of
communicative memory that can be shared, presuppose a dialogue between
the perpetuator and the perpetuated. This allows the communicative memory,
in the Assmannian sense, to become a cultural memory over time.
CHAPTER 5.
DIGITAL STORYTELLING AS AN ARTS-BASED COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH METHOD
According to Horvath and Mitev (2015), the aim of qualitative research is
to make interpretable the events, roles, life situations or even interpersonal
interactions that can only be brought to the surface if the researcher becomes
immersed in the everyday life of the research subject. A new trend in the
qualitative research paradigm is a focus on the self-articulation of research
subjects through art-based exploratory methods. This can be seen, for
example, in the interpretative photo interview, in which the conversation
starts with a photo relevant to the topic (Horvath & Mitev, 2015) or in Photo
Voice, in which the research subjects take a photo of objects relevant to a
particular topic and then narrate it.
DST, like Photo Voice, is a qualitative method of exploring life events and
relies on creativity. Both methods are based on participation and collaboration,
and their primary aim is to enable marginalized social groups to articulate
their own perspectives in order to draw attention to real social problems
(Matthews & Sunderland, 2013). In Photo Voice, the photos are first taken
by the participants, who then form the narrative. In DST, the first step is to
identify the problem and then form the narrative, and only then does the
compilation of the visual material take place.
The advantage of DST compared to oral history is that the exploration is
not carried out through an interview situation, where the interaction with the
researcher can directly affect the narrative or, in the case of sensitive topics,
make the narrator feel uncomfortable or even vulnerable. DST also has the
advantage of immersing the narrator in the creative process and allowing
him or her to form the narrative throughout the workshop in a complex
way through the digital story, using images, sounds, and intonation. The
narrator can express emotions that cannot be described in words through
music and symbols. This mode of expression is also used when the narrator's