A review of the transmedia narrative universe from the perspective of its constituent elements
storyworlds, multiverses and mixed narratives
Abstract
The evolution of technologies such as augmented reality, virtual environments or the development of artificial intelligence applied to different convergent media is a constant challenge for the conceptualization of terms that have been developing over the last decade from the original theories on media convergence and transmedia narratives. Indeed, definitions of concepts such as storyworld, multiverse or transmedia worlds lead to significant asynchronisms between different interpretations and affect the perception of the concept of transmedia universe and the applied analysis of cases. This asynchronism has accelerated the proliferation of similar terms that occasionally add complexity and confusion to scientific research. To this end, this paper aims to update the term transmedia narrative universe with the aim of delimiting and defining the dimensions that comprise it, as well as proposing a new definition. The method is based on a systematic literature review carried out in the Web of Science Core Collection covering the period 2010-2021 from the perspective of communication, journalism and advertising, applying the filters Communication and Film Radio Television when searching for articles. After analysing the review sample, the results allowed three areas of knowledge around the subject of study to be defined: the creation of stories or storyworlds, mixed narratives, and the essential, cross-disciplinary elements that connect the different transmedia worlds and multiverses. The analysis of the articles has resulted in the identification of some contributions that facilitate the definition of the term. The results make it possible to establish a terminological basis on which to analyse this new concept of transmedia narrative universe in accordance with the development of platforms, multiverses and technical tools with a view to the effects of other fields such as sociology, anthropology and education, among others.
Downloads
References
Albaladejo Ortega, S. y Sánchez Martínez, J. (2019). El ecosistema mediático de la ficción contemporánea: relatos, universos y propiedades intelectuales a través de los transmedial worlds. Icono 14, 17(1), 15-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v17i1.1241.
Alvarados Ramírez, M., Guarinos, V. y Gordillo Álvarez, I. (2011). El relato audiovisual transmediático. Esquivando los media tradicionales. Estudios de caso y propuestas creativas. En VI Congrés Internacional Comunicació I Realitat. (pp. 577-586). Blanquerna, Universidad Ramón Llull.
Arnau Roselló, R. (2016). Estrategias Transmedia y enunciación desde los márgenes: El universo narrativo de The Undocumented, Marco Williams, 2013. Icono 14, 14(1), 233-257. http://dx.doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v14i1.931.
ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH [ATLAS.ti 22 Windows]. (2022). Obtenido de https://atlasti.com
Bainbridge, J. (2010). Fully articulated: The rise of the action figure and the changing face of ‘children's’ entertainment. Continuum, 24(6), 829-842. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2010.510592.
Barrientos-Bueno, M. (2013). La convergencia y la segunda pantalla televisiva: el caso de Isabel (TVE). Actas del I Congreso Internacional Comunicación y Sociedad. Universidad Internacional de La Rioja. http://reunir.unir.net/handle/123456789/1731.
Bernardo, N. (2014). Transmedia 2.0: How to create an entertainment brand using a transmedial approach to storytelling. Armando Editore.
Bourdaa, M. (2013). Following the Pattern: The Creation of an Encyclopedic Universe with Transmedia Storytelling. Adaptation, 6(2), 202–214. https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apt009.
Bruni, E. y Baceviciute, S. (2013). Narrative Intelligentibility and Closure in Interactive Systems. En Koenitz, H. et al. (eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8230, (pp.13-15). Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02756-2_2.
Carreño Villada, J. L. (2016). Transmedia Narrative in the Era of the Social mobile. Carlos, King Emperor. Fonseca, (12), 79-95. http://dx.doi.org/10.14201/fjc2016127995.
Ciammella, F., Ciofalo, G. y Leonzi, S. (2019). “It's a trap”. Transmedia Screen Storytelling: from the immersive experience to participatory interactivity. H-ermes. Journal of Communication, 15, 89-10. https://doi.org/10.1285/i22840753n15p89.
Corona-Rodríguez, J. M. (2017). Arqueología Transmedia: participación de las audiencias en la expansión de las narrativas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial (caso Band of Brothers). AdComunica, (13), 175-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/2174-0992.2017.13.10.
Costa Sánchez, C. (2013). Narrativas transmedia nativas: ventajas, elementos de la planificación de un proyecto audiovisual transmedia y estudio de caso. Historia y Comunicación Social, 18, 561-574. http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_ HICS. 2013.v18.44349.
Dunford, M. D. (2018). Paramount Pictures v. Axanar Productions: identifying the infringed work when an unauthorized production is set in an existing fictional universe. Interactive Entertainment Law Review, 1(2), 73–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/ielr.2018.02.01.
Evans, E. (2011). Transmedia television: Audiences, new media and daily life. Routledge.
Freeman, M. (2017). Historicising Transmedia Storytelling: Early Twentieth-Century Transmedia Story Worlds. Routledge.
Freire-Sánchez, A. (2017). ¿Cómo crear un storytelling de marca? De la teoría a la práctica profesional. UOC.
Freire-Sánchez, A. (2022). Los antihéroes no nacen, se forjan. Arco argumental y storytelling en el relato antiheroico. UOC.
Freire-Sánchez, A. y Vidal-Mestre, M. (2022). El concepto de antihéroe o antiheroína en las narrativas audiovisuales transmedia. Cuadernos.Info, (52), 246–265. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.52.34771.
Fuente Prieto, J., Lacasa Díaz, P. y Martínez-Borda, R. (2019). Adolescentes, redes sociales y universos transmedia: la alfabetización mediática en contextos participativos. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 74, 172-196. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2019-1326.
García Villar, M. (2019). Los recursos cinematográficos de Final Fantasy y la narrativa transmediática de Final Fantasy XV. Con A de Animación, (9), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.4995/caa.2019.11328.
García-Marín, D. (2020). Transpodcast universe. Narrative models and independent community. Historia y Comunicación Social, 25(1), 139-149. https://doi.org/10.5209/hics.69232.
Genette, G. (1997). Paratext: Threshold of interpretation. Cambridge University Press.
Ghazanfar, A., Arshad M. y Jackson Brown, A. (2019). Historical Verisimilitudes in Fictional Universe: Cultural Poetics in the Works of Allende. Global Regional Review, IV, 550–556. http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/grr.2019(iv-iv).49.
González-Martínez, J., Serrat-Sellabona, E., Estebanell-MinGuell, M., Rostan-Sánchez, C., y Esteban-Guitart, M. (2018). Sobre el concepto de alfabetización transmedia en el ámbito educativo. Una revisión de la literatura. Comunicación y Sociedad, (33), 15-40.
Gosciola, V. y Tage Verissimo, M. (2018). Mediatización por los jóvenes en la expansión narrativa del Universo Cinemático Marvel. Chasqui. Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, 0(137), 113-130. https://doi.org/10.16921/chasqui.v0i137.3456.
Graves, M. (2017). Transmedia Storytelling, Adaptation, and the Reversing of Justified. Adaptation, 10, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apw039.
Gurfinkel, J., Kagan, M., y Libby, J. (10 octubre, 2010). Your Life Will Be a Transmedia Experience (It Already is). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ydzMRsh90.
Hermann-Acosta, A., y Pérez-Garcias, A. (2019). Narrativas digitales, relatos digitales y narrativas transmedia. Revisión sistemática de literatura en educación en el contexto iberoamericano. Revista Espacios, 40(41).
Hernández Ruiz, J. (2019). Designing Transmedia Worlds: the case of Plot 28 (2013). Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, 12-32. https://doi.org/:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1319en.
Insomniac Games (2018). Spider-Man [Videojuego]. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Jenkins, H. (15 enero, 2003). Transmedia Storytelling. Moving characters from books to films to video games can make them stronger and more compelling. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2003/01/15/234540/transmedia-storytelling.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU Press.
Kalogeras, S. (2014). Transmedia storytelling and the new era of media convergence in higher education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kerrigan, S. y Velikovsky, J. (2016). Examining documentary transmedia narratives through The Living History of Fort Scratchley project. Convergence, 22(3), 250–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856514567053.
Kinder, M. (1991). Playing with power in movies. Television and video games: from Muppet Babies to teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. University of California.
Lacasa Díaz, P. (2018). Expresiones del futuro: cómo se comunicarán las nuevas generaciones. Morata.
Lastra, A. (2016). El poder del prosumidor. Identificación de sus necesidades y repercusión en la producción audiovisual transmedia. Icono 14, (14), 71-94. https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v14i1.902.
Leonard, E. (1997). Pronto. Punto de lectura.
Leonzi, S. (2017). La condizione transmediale, in Bernardo, N., Transmedia 2.0. Brand, storytelling, entertainment. Armando Editore.
Marcos Molano, M., Romero Chamorro, S. F. y Santorum González, M. (2019). El Storyworld en la narrativa de los Juegos Documentales Interactivos: el caso de Fort McMoney. Icono 14, 17(1), 39-59. https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v17i1.1246.
Miranda-Galbe, J., Cabezuelo-Lorenzo, F. y López-Medel, I. (2021). Analytical Model of Transmedia Storytelling Ecosystems in Audiovisual Fiction: The Spanish Model of The Ministry of Time. Communication & Society, 34(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.34.1.1-13.
Mohd, U. H. y Syed, M. A. (2021). Tying multiple installments in a single storyworld: Visiting worldbuilding through Power Sphera Universe in Malaysian animation franchise, BoBoiBoy. Media International Australia, 180(1), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X20978707.
Molpeceres Arnáiz, S. y Rodríguez Fidalgo, M. I. (2014). La inserción del discurso del receptor en la narrativa transmedia: el ejemplo de las series de televisión de ficción. Historia y Comunicación Social, 19, 31-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_HICS.2014.v19.45008.
Mora-Fernández, J. I. (2017). Elementos Narrativos que Sirven para Generar Convergencias e Inteligibilidad en Narrativas Transmediáticas o Narrativas Interactivas Lineales. Icono 14, 15(1), 186-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v15i1.1032.
Ojeda, N., San Nicolás Romera, M. A. y Ros Velasco, J. (2019). In the Warcraft Universe We Trust: An Analysis of Transmedia Advertising Strategies in the World of Warcraft Video Game Series (“Battle Chest 3.0,” “Cataclysm,” and “Mists of Pandaria”). International Journal of Communication, 13, 1507-1525.
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E. y Bossuyt, P. M. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 71, p. 372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71.
Pérez-Rodríguez, A. (2020). Homo sapiens, homo videns, homo fabulators. La competencia mediática en los relatos del universo transmedia. Icono 14, 18(2), 1634. http://dx.doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v18i2.1523.
Piñeiro-Otero, T. (2020). Flash Gordon. La expansión del héroe intergaláctico como ejemplo de arqueología transmedia. Historia y comunicación social, 25(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.5209/hics.69226.
Podwalyi, M. (2020). Religious Cults in the Fictional Universe of the RPG The Witcher. State Religion and Church, 6(1), 91–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.22394/2311-3448-2020-7-1-91-104.
Postman, N. (1991). Divertirse hasta morir, el discurso público en la era del espectáculo. Ediciones de la Tempestad.
Pratten R. (2015). Getting started with Transmedia Storytelling. A practical guide for beginners. (Second edition). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Rampazzo Gambarato, R. y Tárcia, L. P. T. (2017). Transmedia Strategies in Journalism: An analytical model for the news coverage of planned events. Journalism Studies, 18(11), 1381-1399. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1127769.
Rehak, B. (2016). Transmedia space battle: reference materials and miniature wargames in 1970s Star Trek. Science fiction film and television, 9(3), 325–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2016.9.9.
Rodríguez-Ferrándiz, R. (2017). Paratextual Activity: Updating the Genettian approach within the transmedia turn. Communication & Society, 30(1), 165-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.15581/003.30.1.165-182.
Rodríguez-Ferrándiz, R., Tur-Viñes, V. y Mora Contreras, K. (2016). The Tube on YouTube: TV Series, Media Strategies, and User Tactics in a Transmedia Environment. International Journal of Communication, 10, 1991-2013.
Roig, A. (2010). Cine en conexión: producción industrial y social en la era “cross-media”. UOC.
Rosendo Sánchez, N. (2016). Mundos transmediales: revisión conceptual y perspectivas teóricas del arte de crear mundos. Icono 14, 14(1), 49-70. https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v14i1.930.
Rosendo Sánchez, N. (2022). Narrativas transmediales: revisión conceptual y propuesta de una taxonomía y modelo de análisis (el caso español 2006-2016). Tesis Doctoral Universidad de Granada, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/10481/77260.
Rovira Collado, J. M., y Rovira-Collado, J. (2020). Aproximaciones ACA-FAN al universo transmedia de Neil Gaiman: creación y desarrollo de un sello propio. Quaderns de cine. 15. 71-90. https://doi.org/10.14198/QdCINE.2020.15.06.
Ryan, M.L., y Thon J.N. (2014). Storyworlds across Media. Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology. University of Nebraska Press.
Sartori, G. (2012). Homo videns: la sociedad teledirigida. Taurus.
Scolari, C. A. (2009). Transmedia storytelling: Implicit consumers, narrative worlds and branding in contemporary media production. International Journal of Communication, 3, 586–606.
Scolari, C. A. (2013). Lostology: Transmedia storytelling and expansion/compression strategies. Semiotica, (195), 45–68. http://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2013-0038.
Scolari, C. A. (2014). Don Quixote of La Mancha: Transmedia storytelling in the Grey Zone. International Journal of Communication, 8, 2382–2405.
Selva-Ruiz, D. (2021). La fusión de realidad y ficción en las acciones promocionales no convencionales de Pixar. Con A de Animación, (12), 32-51. https://doi.org/10.4995/caa.2021.15084.
Taylor, C. (2015). How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise. Basic Books.
Tenderich, B. (2014). Transmedia Branding. EIMO.
Vidal-Mestre, M. (2018). Branding sonoro: Sonokey: el método de impulso emocional y mnemotécnico para las marcas. UOC.
Villani, N. (2020). Marvel's Spider-Man: “Ragnoverso” crossmediale = Marvel's Spider-Man: crossmedia “Spider-Verse”. H-ermes. Journal of Communication, (18), 73-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1285/i22840753n18p73.
Weaver, T. (2012). Comics for Film, Games, and Animation: Using Comics to Construct Your Transmedia Storyworld. Focal Press.
Wolf, M. J. (2012). Building imaginary worlds: The theory and history of subcreation. Routledge.
Yáñez, J. (2012). La cultura de los nudos. Una aproximación al fenómeno transmedia y a su aplicación en el caso español. L'Atalante: Revista de Estudios Cinematográficos, (13), 28-33.
Yost, G. (Director). (2010-2015). Justified. [TV series]. FX Network
Copyright (c) 2023 Alfonso Freire-Sánchez, Montserrat Vidal-Mestre
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The authors retain the copyright and guarantee the journal the right to be the first publication of the work. In case that a translation of the article already published in Austral Comunicación can be published in another journal, it is requested to record the original publication in the translated version.
The license used is CC BY-NC-SA, which allows sharing (copying and redistributing the material in any medium and format) and adapting (remixing, transforming and building on the material) under the following terms: attribution (acknowledge authorship) and non-commercial (the material cannot be used for commercial purposes). Update: February 1, 2022.
Austral Comunicación allows the author (s) to retain the publication rights without restrictions.
