One of the characteristics that define fictional production in the 21st
century is its tendency to distribute itself among numerous media of
expression: television, cinema, literature, comic-books, theater, video games,
role-playing games, etc. Far from leading to dispersion or to the proliferation
of watertight compartments, such inclination – also present in other
communicative practices – has led to the convergence of all these areas. As a
result, it is becoming increasingly difficult, even inappropriate, to limit the
focus of attention to a single medium and ignore the rest: stories expand to
two, three or more of these environments, aspiring to preserve the unity of
sense in heterogeneity. Thus, to get to a thorough and complete understanding
of the message, the recipient – and, therefore, the critic – has to consider
different creative domains and apply several reading codes. This agent is
simultaneously endowed, in contemporary creation, with a much more active and
decisive role than he/she used to possess. Expected to interact with fictional
products, as a member of a participatory and empowered culture, his/her
intervention – often essential – oscillates between the interpellation and
analysis from various discussion forums – especially the Internet and social
networks – and direct participation in the imaginary universes, either
expanding them in media different from than the one where they originated, or
immersing themselves effectively in those worlds and influencing – either as an
avatar, or playing a character – the course of the action.
These two complementary trends point to the terms on which the proposed
monograph is based: transmedia(lity) and interactivity. Its goal: to trace the
importance of these realities in the fantastic genre or mode, both in
theoretical formulations and practical realizations.
Widely addressed in akin modalities such as science fiction or medieval
fantasy (think, for example, of successful franchises, and recurring objects of
analysis, such as Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire or Lord of the Rings, which
transcended their original medium long ago, and where the interference of fans
has become the norm), the concept of transmedial, or transmedia, has not had,
to date, much repercussion in studies on the fantastic, at least as Brumal conceives it (that is, as the irruption of the impossible into a world in
appearance similar to ours, in tune with Caillois’s and Roas’s theories). As
for interactivity, it also has not received the due attention yet, despite the
interest raised in recent years by expressions rarely considered artistic in
the past, like video games, haunted attractions, fan fiction, “choose your own
adventure” novels, etc. That is why it is urgent to undertake a project like
the current one, in which we analyze, among other things, how speeches and
stories have migrated from one medium to another – if that was not designed
like that from the beginning –, to what extent inter-dependence between the
different media has been promoted, and how, in this process, the community of
readers, spectators, players or, in general, fans has played an increasingly
active and crucial role. It is at this junction, or convergence, between the
transmedia(l) and the interactive towards which we want the participants of the
issue to look.
Main themes:
- Originally, or strategic, transmedia(l) narratives of the fantastic.
- Expanded universes of the fantastic (or /tactical transmedia/).
- Appropriation, reworking and expansion of figures, motives and other references of the fantastic at the hands of fans.
- Theoretical relations between the concepts of transmedia(lity), intermedia(lity) and multimedia(lity) in the fantastic.
- Reflections on the concept of authorship in the fantastic transmedia(lity).
- New interactive modes of the fantastic (video games, haunted attractions, role-playing games, escape rooms, etc.) and their relationship with other media.
- Interactions, in social networks and in other forums, between fictional productions and fans of the fantastic.
Brumal will only consider works of a fantastic nature as defined by the
journal, hereby only accepting papers on
other non-mimetic genres such as the marvellous or science fiction if and when
they are related to fantastic narrative.
This Miscellaneous section is open all year to receive any type of
article on any of the diverse artistic manifestations of the fantastic
(narrative, theater, film, comics, painting, photography, video games), whether
theoretical, critical, historical or comparative in nature, concerning the
fantastic in any language or from any country, from the nineteenth century to
the present.
Scholars who wish to contribute to either of these two sections should
send us their articles registering as authors on our web page. The
Guidelines for Submissions may be found on the Submissions section of
the web page.
Deadline: june 15, 2020
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario