Archival narrative emerged as an important research field in postmodernism, combining archival studies and narrative theory. Recently, the "spatial issue" in archival narrative research has become prominent, driven by the "spatial turn" in narrative theory, which has led to the development of narrative space and spatial narrative theories. The basic understanding of narrative space is structured by the "story-discourse" dichotomy. Additionally, changes in the management of archival objects have expanded archival practices from a "physical-social" binary space to a "physical-digital-social" trinary space. However, research on archival narratives in spatial dimensions remains underdeveloped, necessitating the exploration of digital archival spatial narratives. This study uses inductive and deductive methods to analyze spatial representations in archival and narrative theory. It explores extending the binary space framework based on a trinary spatial integration. Focusing on story space and digital archives, it examines the "why," "what," and "how" of digital archival narratives (2W1H). It also analyzes discourse space, considering the shift from "inner (subject-facing)" to "outer (user-facing)" in the context of digital media, offering a comprehensive exploration of digital archival narrative channels. This study, distinct from traditional linear narrative research, focuses on the spatial attributes of historical narratives and the tool attributes of digital narratives. It particularly emphasizes the spatiality of narrative and the narrativity of space, enriching both narrative and archival theory in a bidirectional way.

Authors:
Jingyi Zeng, Nankai University, China
Yongjun Xu, Renmin University of China, China
Yujue Wang, Wuhan University, China
Li Niu, Renmin University of China, China

About the Presenter(s)
Jingyi Zeng is an assistant professor at Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.

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