Decentering the Center, Emphasizing Periphery: Nonlinearity, Power Relations, and Their Interplay in Transmedial Narratives
摘要
Contemporary transmedial productions are often carefully crafted to enhance and shape the narrative journey: by creating engaging narrative environments that blur the boundaries between fiction and reality, creators aim to transform storytelling into an active and immersive experience. Transmediality’s interdisciplinary nature prompts questions about media-specific methodologies, comparisons with traditional narratives, and power dynamics within the narrative landscape. These considerations converge in the tendency of transmedial narratives to disrupt and re-establish power relations embedded in storytelling. Firstly, transmediality allows “media modalities” to constitute complementary elements of a “narrative ecosystem,” in which each element can be potentially recognized as central as another one. The first term refers to the four-modal-dimensions model proposed by Elleström (The Modalities of Media: A Model for Understanding Intermedial Relations, 2010a), defining the attributes of any form of media expression. The narrative ecosystem in which they converge, refers to the conceptual framework presented by Innocenti and Pescatore (World Building: Transmedia, Fans, Industries, Amsterdam University Press, 2017), which encompasses a cross-disciplinary approach to studying storytelling and considers interactions between various elements within the narrative landscape. Such conceptual frameworks allow us to capture the complexities of transmedial narratives, aiming at creating a systematic (in Elleström’s case) or flexible (in the case of Innocenti and Pescatore) model for a holistic understanding of how these narrative environments develop and transform. Secondly, since their expansive nature enables readers to extend the story through new textual elements, transmedial narratives redefine the traditionally hierarchical connection between authorship and readership. This redefinition also questions the concept of a unique, central world, allowing the emergence of satellite, possible worlds within the narrative environment. Moreover, the multi-faceted nature of transmedial textualities departs from Aristotelian conventions, offering readers multiple entry points to the narrative space. This chapter explores how transmedial narratives decenter the traditional narrative core, highlighting the significance of nonlinearity in reshaping hierarchical structures.