Information, Medium & Society: Eighteenth International Conference on Publishing Studies

Abstract

Transmedia storytelling has long been viewed as both a recent phenomenon and as an act of design. This perspective arguably originates with Henry Jenkins’ description of transmedia stories from the entertainment industry. Fictional stories are created rather than discovered. However, Jenkins also writes of the transmedia nature of Christian mythology. As early as the middle ages this story was told not only in texts but also sculpture, architecture, stained glass, and ritual performance. This paper identifies a spectrum of transmedia storyworld types, starting with feral transmedia stories—such as Brexit, #MeToo, or any U.S. mass shooting—that expand across multiple media forms and channels independently of any designer. It continues through emergent transmedia stories—such as Star Wars, Halo or Marvel’s superheroes—in which a single-medium story is subsequently transformed into a complex transmedia franchise. It then extends the spectrum to native transmedia stories—such as The Matrix, The Wizard of Oz, or Lego’s many franchises—in which the transmedia story is designed as such from the very start. Understanding the intentional or unintentional transmedia qualities of successful stories—whether true or false—is critical for analysis of communication in a post-truth era. In order to combat disinformation, scholars, journalists and others who ethically inform the public must use this phenomenon better than those who abuse it. Transmedia storytelling is not a result of the digital age. The digital age simply exposed how, like water flowing to the sea, a compelling story will find any and every means to be told.