Heritage and memory of public interest in times of pandemic: a study on the communication of memories and stories about covid-19 through digital narratives

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has generated an increase in digital data repositories that record people’s memories of the pandemic, giving rise to several virtual communities that promote the production of memories by sending life stories in different media. Based on an exploratory and documental study, this work presents a survey of digital platforms from different actions and university, cultural and media institutions, and civil society associations that have launched digital repositories to collect and share reports about people’s experiences about the covid-19 pandemic. The analysis and the comparison of the memorial records of the repositories indicate the importance of life stories integrated with visual narratives composed of photographs and videos to build a more inclusive network of memories of the covid-19 pandemic, that is, a network based on the experiences of different publics and/or communities, constituting itself as a memory of public interest for the construction of a cultural heritage of this context. The results indicate the importance of new technologies as means of communication and information on this data of public interest, with emphasis on transmedia narratives – that are present in some of the platforms analyzed – as contemporary narrative forms that enable the active participation and engagement of different audiences.