How to Tell Stories with Networks: Exploring the Narrative Affordances of Graphs with the Iliad

Venturini, T., Bounegru, L., Jacomy, M., & Gray, J. (2017). “How to Tell Stories with Networks: Exploring the Narrative Affordances of Graphs with the Iliad.” In The Datafied Society: Studying Culture through Data, edited by Mirko Schaefer and Karin Van Es. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

13 Pages Posted: 29 Sep 2017

See all articles by Tommaso Venturini

Tommaso Venturini

Centre Internet et Société CNRS

Liliana Bounegru

Ghent University; University of Groningen; Digital Methods Initiative

Mathieu Jacomy

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - médialab

Jonathan Gray

King's College London

Date Written: November 13, 2015

Abstract

No doubt, networks have become indispensable mathematical tools in many aspects of life in the twenty first century. They allow us to calculate all kinds of relational metrics and to quantify the properties of their nodes, clusters and global structures. These modes of calculation are becoming increasingly prevalent in an age of digital data. But networks are more than formal analytical tools. They are also powerful metaphors of our collective life, with all of its complexity and its many dependencies. This is why, among the various strategies of data visualization, networks seem to have assumed a paradigmatic position, spreading to the most different disciplines and colonizing sometimes as mere decoration a growing number of digital and non-digital objects. Contemplating the visual representation of a network, we don’t (always) need to compute its mathematical properties to appreciate its heuristic value – as anyone who has ever used a transportation plan knows well. Networks are extraordinary calculating devices, but they are also maps, instruments of navigation and representation. Not only do they guide our steps through the territories that they represent, but they also invite our imagination to see and explore the world in different ways.

Keywords: networks, visual network analysis, digital humanities, media studies

Suggested Citation

Venturini, Tommaso and Bounegru, Liliana and Jacomy, Mathieu and Gray, Jonathan, How to Tell Stories with Networks: Exploring the Narrative Affordances of Graphs with the Iliad (November 13, 2015). Venturini, T., Bounegru, L., Jacomy, M., & Gray, J. (2017). “How to Tell Stories with Networks: Exploring the Narrative Affordances of Graphs with the Iliad.” In The Datafied Society: Studying Culture through Data, edited by Mirko Schaefer and Karin Van Es. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3043857

Tommaso Venturini (Contact Author)

Centre Internet et Société CNRS ( email )

59-61 rue Pouchet
PARIS, 75849
France

HOME PAGE: http://www.cis.cnrs.fr

Liliana Bounegru

Ghent University ( email )

Coupure Links 653
Ghent, 9000
Belgium

University of Groningen ( email )

P.O. Box 800
9700 AH Groningen, Groningen 9700 AV
Netherlands

Digital Methods Initiative ( email )

Spui 21
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

Mathieu Jacomy

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - médialab ( email )

27 rue St Guillaume - Paris Cedex 07
Paris, 75337
France

Jonathan Gray

King's College London ( email )

Strand
London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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