The World of Avatar
What is "Avatar"?
An overview
"Avatar: the Last Airbender" is an American anime-influenced television series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios.
Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the show started in 2008 and its universe has been expanding since then, with a second series, "Avatar: the Legend of Korra", and numerous spin-offs, novels and, now, even with a Netflix live-show.
About the project
"ATLA - Avatar the LOD Archive" aims to represent the rich interconnections characterizing the Avatar's universe, mostly focusing on real life elements that inspired some of the main cultural influences that shaped this setting and the evolution of its plot.
We implemented components of Linked Open Data, available on the Internet, and a Knowledge Graph was realized to better explicit and visualize meaningful relationships.
Linguistic Analysis was another core proceeding of the development, since it allowed us to delve into the information provided by the show itself in the most efficient approach possible.
Formal and Informal Competency have, moreover, been formulated and tested with the elaborated Graph Queries.
The Avatar Universe
"The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same."
- Guru Pathik
Languages, cultures, philosophies and religions
!["Avatar" Mountain & Wulingyuan Scenic Area, Zhangjiajie, China [Amazing Places 4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NUlyJT3RxQA/maxresdefault.jpg)
The cultural elements present in the world of Avatar mainly come from Asia, spacing from India to Korea, but they also include Native American cultures and historical references; an incredible variety of mythologies, languages and beliefs capable of making this world vast and unique.
We represented just a sample of what this universe has to offer, and the connections are already numerous and the result of an attentative research.
The Avatar world not only derives from many different cultures and tradition, but also from real historical events and figures: the series has never shied away from dark and complex topics, handling them with respect and with narrative coherence.
The Linked Open Data segment of our project was vital to better highlight these intricate connections, sometimes impossible to explicit completely.
How real history can shape fictional worlds
Team
Ginevra Botto
Francesca Budel
