Article published In:
Narrative InquiryVol. 25:1 (2015) ► pp.113–130
Multimodal figuration of product stories
Experience crossing and creating empathy
The product story, an emerging genre increasingly used in creative industries, introduces the product by means of storytelling. Unlike a typical personal narrative, which reports events, the product story, which usually includes one or more pictures showing the item for sale, uses the past as a resource to tell a story about a new product pertaining to human experience. This study uses the notion of multimodal figuration to characterize the co-presence of narrativity and visuality in product stories. The notion simultaneously refers to three key features of product stories which are co-produced by word and image: participants (i.e. product and human), the generation of plots, and emotionality. In the interactions between participants exists a tension between objectifying and animating forces. Two other phenomena result from the interconnections among the three senses or layers of multimodal figuration: crossing experience and creating empathy, in both of which metaphor plays a central role.
Keywords: metaphor, product stories, empathy, experience crossing, small stories
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