Multimodal Narratives: the image of mathematicians in digital mathematical performances

In this paper I present a case study. I investigated the images of mathematicians in a context in which undergraduate students were engaged in the production of digital mathematical performances (DMP). I argue that DMP may be conceptualized as multimodal narratives in which one communicates mathematical ideas using the arts. The students were enrolled in an extra-class course and produced two DMP under my supervision: a dramatic one and a musical one. Twelve different images of mathematicians were explored in the DMP. In my discussions, I highlight the narrative nature emergent from performance and the relation involving narrative, paramathematics, and identity. This research offers ways to deconstruct stereotypes about mathematics and mathematicians and supports the construction of alternate public images through the production of multimodal narratives based on the use of arts and digital technology.