Ötzi, the ice mummy and its afterlives: character in the new science narratives

Abstract

This paper aims to show how character is a structuring element in narrative communication, being fundamental for establishing links with the receiver. Within the theory of character, Ralph Schneider adopts the cognitive model and assumes the double nature of character as based on ‘real’ people and simultaneously resulting from a composite process of construction. He thus understands character as a mental model that the reader/spectator/listener activates on the basis of data that are immanent in the text, combining it with mental information and social cognition (Schneider, 2001, p. 608). This theoretical model seems to be very pertinent in this context since it may provide an answer to the initial working hypothesis, i.e., that character is indispensable for the narrative construction of seduction. The identification that it generates in the receiver – called empathy by some authors – necessarily engages the emotions that emerge in the act of reception. As a case study, we will focus on a radio podcast narrative (http://www.radiolab.org/story/ice-cold-case/) that builds a story around the archaeological finding of a wet mummy from the Bronze Age with the goal of conveying scientific content to nonexpert audiences. We are, therefore, in the realm of science communication, in which storytelling (Dahlstrom, 2014) and the figuration of character (Reis, 2015) are crucial means to seduce the audience and to facilitate communication.