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AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
not.” 1 The comment prompted a lively debate in numerous fanzines, magazines, and newspapers (e.g. The Guardian, New York Post, Scientific American,
and Huffington Post). Whether or not one considers Prometheus a prequel to
Alien wholly depends, of course, on one’s definition of “prequel.” A general
definition of a prequel, as a fiction chronologically situated prior to, but in
the same fictional universe as, that of another (already released/published)
text’s storyworld would make Prometheus a prequel. 2 A specified definition
of prequel that additionally requires fairly close temporal proximity between
the two narratives, a (logical or causal) connection of their plots, and the
inclusion of some key characters at an earlier age/stage (say, the young
Ellen Ripley or Bishop), would make Prometheus indeed part of “the same
constellation, the same galaxy” as Alien, but not a prequel.
As inconsequential as it is, this little quibble illustrates a number of
interesting points, authorial intention not being chief among them. For one,
by adding textual storyworld upon storyworld, franchises inevitably create
fictional universes. 3 These, it appears, are contested territory in terms of
their particular constitution and the meaningfulness and ascendancy of
their various elements (characters/creatures, locations, storylines, events,
etc.) both within and across the various storyworlds that make up a universe. Moreover, the very fact that fictional universes can reasonably be
contested in the first place points to what I would argue is a defining and
inevitable characteristic of fictional universes that consist of multiple texts
and storyworlds: they are open, dynamic, flexible, and heterogeneous, much
more so than is frequently acknowledged; only in recent years have critics
begun to criticize the idea of fictional universes as more or less coherent,
consistent, and homogeneous. This heterogeneity, in turn, begs the question
of semantic and pragmatic control over this universe in terms of production,
access, permanence, and reception. As Henry Jenkins writes early on in
his book Convergence Culture (a caveat that is sometimes overlooked),
1 Ridley Scott, “Ridley Scott says Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien,” BBC Radio 5 Live
interview, 2:51, last modif ied June 1, 2012, accessed February 15, 2019, www.bbc.com/news/
entertainment-arts-18298709.
2 I follow David Herman’s definition of storyworlds as “mental models of who did what to and
with whom, when, where, why, and in what fashion in the world to which interpreters relocate – or
make a deictic shift – as they work to comprehend a narrative.” David Herman, “Regrounding
Narratology: The Study of Narratively Organized Systems of Thinking.” In What is Narratology?
Questions and Answers regarding the Status of a Theory, ed. Tom Kindt and Hans-Harald Müller
(Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003), 306 n.10.
3 I am obviously talking about fiction franchises and not the business method of trademark
licensing per se, although, of course, all fiction franchises entail trademark licensing (for the
legally sanctioned products).
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
not.” 1 The comment prompted a lively debate in numerous fanzines, magazines, and newspapers (e.g. The Guardian, New York Post, Scientific American,
and Huffington Post). Whether or not one considers Prometheus a prequel to
Alien wholly depends, of course, on one’s definition of “prequel.” A general
definition of a prequel, as a fiction chronologically situated prior to, but in
the same fictional universe as, that of another (already released/published)
text’s storyworld would make Prometheus a prequel. 2 A specified definition
of prequel that additionally requires fairly close temporal proximity between
the two narratives, a (logical or causal) connection of their plots, and the
inclusion of some key characters at an earlier age/stage (say, the young
Ellen Ripley or Bishop), would make Prometheus indeed part of “the same
constellation, the same galaxy” as Alien, but not a prequel.
As inconsequential as it is, this little quibble illustrates a number of
interesting points, authorial intention not being chief among them. For one,
by adding textual storyworld upon storyworld, franchises inevitably create
fictional universes. 3 These, it appears, are contested territory in terms of
their particular constitution and the meaningfulness and ascendancy of
their various elements (characters/creatures, locations, storylines, events,
etc.) both within and across the various storyworlds that make up a universe. Moreover, the very fact that fictional universes can reasonably be
contested in the first place points to what I would argue is a defining and
inevitable characteristic of fictional universes that consist of multiple texts
and storyworlds: they are open, dynamic, flexible, and heterogeneous, much
more so than is frequently acknowledged; only in recent years have critics
begun to criticize the idea of fictional universes as more or less coherent,
consistent, and homogeneous. This heterogeneity, in turn, begs the question
of semantic and pragmatic control over this universe in terms of production,
access, permanence, and reception. As Henry Jenkins writes early on in
his book Convergence Culture (a caveat that is sometimes overlooked),
1 Ridley Scott, “Ridley Scott says Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien,” BBC Radio 5 Live
interview, 2:51, last modif ied June 1, 2012, accessed February 15, 2019, www.bbc.com/news/
entertainment-arts-18298709.
2 I follow David Herman’s definition of storyworlds as “mental models of who did what to and
with whom, when, where, why, and in what fashion in the world to which interpreters relocate – or
make a deictic shift – as they work to comprehend a narrative.” David Herman, “Regrounding
Narratology: The Study of Narratively Organized Systems of Thinking.” In What is Narratology?
Questions and Answers regarding the Status of a Theory, ed. Tom Kindt and Hans-Harald Müller
(Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003), 306 n.10.
3 I am obviously talking about fiction franchises and not the business method of trademark
licensing per se, although, of course, all fiction franchises entail trademark licensing (for the
legally sanctioned products).