Narrative and Database

In the essay “The Database,” Lev Manovich asserts that “database and narrative are natural enemies.”(Kocur and Leung 413) However, he seems to ignore the fact that these two modes of communication often serve two very different functions. The predominant example given for a narrative is the novel, while the example for a database is an encyclopedia. A novel and an encyclopedia are used for different means and so are database and narrative. A narrative is used for entertainment but the database is ideal for efficient retrieval of information. It seems silly to claim the two enemies while they are not even playing in the same arena.
Manovich then goes on to claim that these two modes should be used together. “Although the database and narrative are “competing imaginations,” the current task of new media is to find ways for the successful melding of the two.” (Kocur and Leung 349) Manovich shows examples of this “successful melding” by referencing avant-garde filmmakers such as Dziga Vertov and Peter Greenaway. A primary role of cinema is to entertain and offer an escape for the viewer, the most effective way of which involves some sort of narrative, but why is narrative alone not enough? Vertov’s The Man with a Movie Camera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZciIC4JPw ) does successfully meld database and narrative—although lacking a plot—the film is not very entertaining and does not serve the same function as traditional cinema. It seems reasonable that database and narrative could exist independently.

Manovich, Lev. “The Database.” Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. ed. Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 408-427.