NAtoms 2026: Narrative Atoms: The Persistence and Transformation of Fundamental Story Units in Culture

Kraków, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University 🌐 Conference languages: Polish and English Conference format: hybrid (on-site and online) International participants are welcome to join the conference remotely. About the Conference The conference aims to explore elementary narrative structures that organize cultural experience and contribute to the construction of meaning—from oral traditions to contemporary forms of digital communication. At the center of discussion are “narrative atoms”, understood as minimal, repeatable matrices of meaning-making that function across different media and historical contexts. Proposed Areas of Inquiry 1. Ontology and Theory of “Narrative Atoms” • Epistemological status of basic narrative structures: universal or historically variable? • Persistence of archetypal patterns despite technological and media change • Elementary narrative structures as models of knowledge organization and complexity reduction • Hybridization and recontextualization of traditional patterns in late modern culture • Relationships between elementary and complex narrative systems • Basic structures within extended narratives (novel, film, series, historiography) • Historical models of meaning-making as configurations of recurring patterns 2. Media and Digital Transformations • Relations between orality, literacy, and digitality: continuity and rupture • Transformations of pre-literate narrative patterns in digital environments (memes, games, fan fiction, social media) • Elementary narrative units in cybertext, virtual literature, and immersive forms • Narrative patterns in visual culture: art, film, series, comics, audiovisual media • Adaptations of myth, saga, and legend in film, TV series, and games as forms of media translocation

3. Social and Cultural Functions • Social and identity-related functions of narrative patterns in contemporary digital culture • Elementary structures as carriers of collective memory and cultural transmission • Archetypal forms in historical narratives and historiography • Narrative patterns in folk and popular culture • Use of basic narrative structures in advertising, propaganda, and political communication • Short forms (jokes, proverbs, aphorisms) as tools for negotiating norms and symbolic orders 📩 Abstract submission deadline: 31 July 2026 👉 Submission form: Conference Registration Form – Wypełnij formularz 💰 Conference fee: 500 PLN / 150 EUR