There’s more to life than the monomyth: multiperspectival approaches to teaching narrative and story in university film and media departments

ABSTRACT

This article critiques the ongoing dominance of the Hollywood monomyth in the film and television industry, at least in the UK if not more widely. It considers how this is impacting on the teaching of narrative and story in university film and media departments as they move towards stronger collaborations with industry. It argues for the importance of two-way dialogue to help equip students and their future employers for a world facing complex global challenges. Drawing on the author’s extensive experience in teaching and practice-led research, it advocates for a creative problem-solving approach which decentres conflict-driven models of narrative development, such as the Hero’s Journey, placing them alongside alternative models which engage with the relationship between conflict and harmony in a variety of different ways. Considering narrative structures such as Kishōtenketsu, indigenous storytelling methods and the author’s own work with the Polyphonic Documentary project, the need for a genuinely inclusive and expansive approach is brought to the fore. A mixed economy is considered to be essential, with experimental and traditional approaches preparing students for current industry demands whilst also encouraging them to shape future storytelling landscapes. The argument is made that this is crucial to foster a nuanced understanding of narrative and story that can respond creatively and effectively to the demands of a rapidly changing world.

KEYWORDS:

• hero’s journey
• narrative
• polyphony
• multiperspectivity
• screen culture
• metamodernism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Defined by the Pew Research Center as being anyone born from 1997 onwards: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/

2 Certainly in the UK, if not elsewhere

3 Co-founder of i-Docs 2011- (i-docs,org), Chair of RAI Film Committee 2021- (https://www.therai.org.uk/committees/film-committee), Co-convenor of Polyphonic Documentary Project 2020- (polyphonicdocumentary.com)

4 polyphonicdocumentary.com

5 An international community of researchers and practitioners interested in the evolving practices of interactive and immersive documentary established through my work as Co-founder of i-Docs (i-Docs.org)

6 https://www.stornaway.io/

7 This collaboration is summarised here: https://www.stornaway.io/press-release-uwe-bristol-partners-with-stornaway-io-to-teach-students-interactive-filmmaking/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judith Aston

Judith Aston is an Associate Professor in Film and Digital Arts at UWE Bristol. She is Co-founder of i-Docs (i-Docs.org) and Chair of the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Film Committee. She has an interdisciplinary background in Anthropology, Geography, Interaction Design, Film and Media. She teaches across BA, MA and PhD in UWE’s Filmmaking Department and conducts practice-led research through the University's Digital Cultures Research Centre. At the heart of her work is the desire to put evolving media technologies into the service of promoting multi-perspectival thinking and understanding. Her current collaboration with Stefano Odorico on The Polyphonic Documentary Project is the latest manifestation of this ongoing endeavour.