Transmedial Storytelling and Transfictionality

Abstract

This article investigates the relations between the narratological concept of transfictionality and the trendy phenomenon of transmedial storytelling. Made popular as a concept by Henry Jenkins (2006), transmedial storytelling is the creation of a storyworld through multiple documents belonging to various media. The three fundamental operations of transfictionality—expansion, modification, and transposition—are investigated in terms of their potential for transmedial storytelling. After an analysis of the variety of documents that make up the storyworld of Alpha 0.7 (Südwestrundfunk 2010), a German transmedial story system that comprises a TV miniseries, radio plays, fictional web pages, and links to nonfictional texts created independently of the project, the article asks under which conditions an alternate reality game (ARG) could be added to the system without spoiling the experience of those people who limit their exploration of the storyworld to watching the TV show. In turn, the last section asks what kind of stories lend themselves to transmedial projects and why such projects are currently popular.

Narrative's impact on quality of experience in digital storytelling

“…There is more to digital stories than digital devices. The content is often expressed through several modes and modalities [34] [36]. The story can unfold within a space, so that the participant has to move around [3] [7].…”

“…. The content often comes in the form of several modes and modalities [34] [36]. And digital stories are often interactive, giving the participant an active role [6]…”

A Heuristic for Improving Transmedia Exhibition Experience

“…The approach is similar to the design category, although it focuses on developing fictional universes and characters. The researchers mainly concentrate on providing guidelines and structures wherein transmedia can be conceived and shaped (Richardson, 2010;Alexander B., 2011;Stackelberg, 2011;Wolf, 2012;Ryan, 2013b;Long, 2007). Researchers also present different ways of considering the migration of properties of fictional characters and narratives from a representation of fictional content to reality (Herman, 2004;Scolari, 2009;Alexander E., 2013).…”

La Réception D’un Roman Augmenté Pour Adolescents

“…C'est précisément sur les aspects participatif et ludique du rapport à la fiction et à la narration que reposent l'interactivité et le potentiel d'« immersion fictionnelle » (Ryan, 2013 ;Schaeffer, 1999) plus importants des romans dits « augmentés » ou transmédias, notamment ceux destinés aux adolescents (Hamaide-Jager, 2013). À ce titre, ces oeuvres soulèvent des questions particulières sur les relations que les lecteurs nouent avec les dispositifs1narratifs et technologiques qui « transpos [ent] le récit dans un hors-texte médiatique » (Rio, 2012, p. 147).…”