Digital Narratives of Hajj as Literature in Motion: An Analytical Study of Contemporary Travelogues in Live Streaming and Vlogs

The advent of the internet and its various applications have profoundly affected human communication to a degree that deserves focused scholarly attention. The prevalence of web-based applications resulted in the emergence of applications that are not only readable but also writable for both personal and professional goals (Stevenson, 2014). The current changes in the dissemination of knowledge largely transformed the documentation of Hajj experience and brought vivid dimension to the originally rich human religious and spiritual experience. Hajj travelogues are no longer static diaries that are recorded on books with few images and maps at best. They are becoming a rather lively and vibrant documentation of human interaction to the place and its surroundings, as a perfect example of literature in motion, such digital stories are valuable sources for researchers and Hajj authorities as they provide detailed knowledge of the human experience that can be the core of multi-disciplinary research data. Special advent features like immediacy and spontaneity can be of immense value if efficiently and thus strategically utilized. The current study reads contemporary Hajj blogs, vlogs and digital live streaming. It examines modern times categorical change in the personal documentation of Hajj trips in the digital age. With a comparatively reduced space to writing, digital presentation of images and videos become vital components in the experience of Hajj. Interactive Hajj vlogs are to be examined here as examples of the changing agency in image creation. A qualitative approach is used to examine the current changes of Hajj as a human experience. The study aims at answering the following questions; How digital narratives are used as self-expression tools of documentation to Hajj experience? How can digital narratology contribute to the field of digital humanities?