ALIEN AdApted (AgAin And AgAin)
171
these are the principles at work; however, I do not think they always and
inevitably do a good job at “cohering,” because while the “narrative spaces”
are indeed “vast in their scope and minute in their detail,” they are not, and
cannot be, “wholesale envisionings” and “completely imagined worlds.” 34
Every storyworld accretion, or initiation, is already incomplete and semantically heterogeneous (with all the complications mentioned above), making
the fictional universe they gradually constitute and form part of at least as
incomplete and semantically heterogeneous (because the complications
compound each other). This is a potentially indefinite process as long as
new storyworld texts are added to the fictional universe, not to mention
the fact that each “partaker” of this universe assembles his or her very own
syntagmatic and paradigmatic constellation of this universe. Admittedly,
fans and particular fan cultures are likely to agree on a canon of “must-see”
storyworlds within a transmedial universe, so that there may be a shared,
intersubjective pattern of assemblage. Nonetheless, fans and fan cultures
change (especially over the long time some franchises exist and expand);
they often heatedly (and for years) debate which storyworld belongs to the
canon for which reasons, and in which order they are best “consumed”; and
new storyworld additions to the universe may radically upend large parts
of it (consider, for example, the X-Men reboot). Overall, given the number of
factors that influence both the extension of a transmedial universe and its
consumption, I would argue that volatility and coincidence still dominate.
Therefore, when Jenkins writes that “[t]ransmedia storytelling represents
a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically
across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and
coordinated entertainment experience,” 35 he is certainly right about the
intention, but I am not so sure he is right about its successful implementation
resulting in a “systematic,” “unified,” and “coordinated” fictional universe.
In fact, I would argue that while the attempt is certainly made, the intended
result is ultimately impossible, simply because of how storyworlds and
fictional universes work (and, on a more general level, simply because chance
and contingency will always obviate attempts at total control anywhere).
As Felan Parker argues using digital games of the Star Wars franchise as an
example, the dominant discourse of canon and continuity is misleading,
not only because “interactive, playable, non-linear […] digital games [cannot] be rationalized as part of a singular, continuous canon,” but “simply
[because of] the overwhelming incoherence and complexity of transmedia
34 Ibid., 214.
35 Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 101” (emphasis added).
171
these are the principles at work; however, I do not think they always and
inevitably do a good job at “cohering,” because while the “narrative spaces”
are indeed “vast in their scope and minute in their detail,” they are not, and
cannot be, “wholesale envisionings” and “completely imagined worlds.” 34
Every storyworld accretion, or initiation, is already incomplete and semantically heterogeneous (with all the complications mentioned above), making
the fictional universe they gradually constitute and form part of at least as
incomplete and semantically heterogeneous (because the complications
compound each other). This is a potentially indefinite process as long as
new storyworld texts are added to the fictional universe, not to mention
the fact that each “partaker” of this universe assembles his or her very own
syntagmatic and paradigmatic constellation of this universe. Admittedly,
fans and particular fan cultures are likely to agree on a canon of “must-see”
storyworlds within a transmedial universe, so that there may be a shared,
intersubjective pattern of assemblage. Nonetheless, fans and fan cultures
change (especially over the long time some franchises exist and expand);
they often heatedly (and for years) debate which storyworld belongs to the
canon for which reasons, and in which order they are best “consumed”; and
new storyworld additions to the universe may radically upend large parts
of it (consider, for example, the X-Men reboot). Overall, given the number of
factors that influence both the extension of a transmedial universe and its
consumption, I would argue that volatility and coincidence still dominate.
Therefore, when Jenkins writes that “[t]ransmedia storytelling represents
a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically
across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and
coordinated entertainment experience,” 35 he is certainly right about the
intention, but I am not so sure he is right about its successful implementation
resulting in a “systematic,” “unified,” and “coordinated” fictional universe.
In fact, I would argue that while the attempt is certainly made, the intended
result is ultimately impossible, simply because of how storyworlds and
fictional universes work (and, on a more general level, simply because chance
and contingency will always obviate attempts at total control anywhere).
As Felan Parker argues using digital games of the Star Wars franchise as an
example, the dominant discourse of canon and continuity is misleading,
not only because “interactive, playable, non-linear […] digital games [cannot] be rationalized as part of a singular, continuous canon,” but “simply
[because of] the overwhelming incoherence and complexity of transmedia
34 Ibid., 214.
35 Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 101” (emphasis added).