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v2.0
Formal documentation
Browse the ontology's classes, properties, definitions, and semantic relationships.
Read the documentationKNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION · NARRATIVE STUDIES
Making the structure of stories explicit.
GOLEM is an ontology for narrative and fiction. It provides a formal framework for representing characters, events, relationships, settings, and other elements of storytelling as interconnected systems.
G
Narrative
Character
Event
Context
Elements in relation, not isolation.
01
Formal
Explicit concepts, properties, and semantic relations.
02
Interconnected
Narrative elements understood through their relationships.
03
Cross-domain
A reusable framework for comparing different narratives.
01 — THE PROJECT
A shared conceptual ground for stories.
Stories are more than collections of characters and events. Their meaning emerges from the relationships between their components and the contexts in which they unfold.
GOLEM develops a formal, domain-independent model of narrative and fiction. By making narrative concepts and relationships explicit, the ontology supports consistent knowledge representation and computational analysis.
Its modular approach aims to provide a reusable library of narrative components, including characters, events, settings, social relationships, and narrative inference. This creates a foundation for comparative research across texts, genres, and cultural contexts.
Explore the ontology modules02 — THE ONTOLOGY
Explore the published resources.
Read the documentation online or access the ontology in machine-readable formats for reuse, integration, and analysis.
FOR DEVELOPERS
RDF
Ontology serializations
Access the current ontology in formats suitable for semantic-web tools and applications.
RESEARCH
MODULES
Conceptual modules
Learn how GOLEM models narrative components and how individual modules fit into the larger framework.
Browse the wiki03 — VERSION HISTORY
Releases and documentation.
Access version-specific documentation and source files. The current aliases above always point to the latest release.
GOLEM v2.0
Current release · Major refactoring
GOLEM v1.1
Previous release
Version 2.0 introduces a major architectural and semantic refactoring. Consult its documentation when migrating from earlier versions.
04 — RESEARCH CONTEXT
From narrative theory to computable knowledge.
GOLEM connects formal ontology engineering with literary studies, digital humanities, and computational approaches to cultural evolution. Its conceptualization treats narratives as structured systems whose components can be studied in relation to one another.
Read about narrative complexity05 — CITATION
Build on this work.
If you use GOLEM in your research, please cite the ontology and consult the relevant release documentation.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Pianzola, F., Pannach, F., Cheng, L., Yang, X., & Scotti, L. (2024). GOLEM Ontology for Narrative and Fiction.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14911392