A Hybrid Representational Proposal for Narrative Concepts: A Case Study on Character Roles

In this paper we propose the adoption of a hybrid approach to the computational representation of narrative concepts, combining prototype-based and ontology-based representations. In particular we focus on the notion of narrative roles. Inspired by the characterization provided by the TvTropes wiki, where narrative devices are discussed across old and new media, we provide a representation of roles based on the integration of a set of typicality-based semantic dimensions (represented by using the Conceptual Spaces framework) with their corresponding classical characterization in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions (represented in terms of Formal Ontologies).