Abstract
AbstractThis article sketches a theoretical framework and method for the analysis of transmedia characters that focuses on specific instantiations of these characters in individual media texts, before asking how theselocal work-specific charactersrelate to other local work-specific characters or coalesce intoglocal transmedia charactersas part ofglobal transmedia character networks, thus evading what one could consider an undue emphasis on the “model of the single character” when analyzing the various characters that are, for example called Sherlock Holmes, Batman, or Lara Croft. The connections between these work-specific characters within transmedia character network could then be described as either relations ofredundancy, relations ofexpansion, or relations ofmodification– with only redundancy and expansion allowing for medial representations of work-specific characters to contribute to the representation of a single transmedia character. In intersubjectively constructing characters across media, however, recipients will not only take into account powerful normative discourses that police the representation of characters across media but also draw on their accumulated knowledge about previously represented work-specific or transmedia characters as well as abouttransmedia character templatesand even more generaltransmedia character types.
Highlights
This article sketches a theoretical framework and method for the analysis of transmedia characters that focuses on specific instantiations of these characters in individual media texts, before asking how these local work-specific characters relate to other local work-specific characters or coalesce into glocal transmedia characters as part of global transmedia character networks, evading what one could consider an undue emphasis on the “model of the single character” when analyzing the various characters that are, for example called Sherlock Holmes, Batman, or Lara Croft
As will have become sufficiently clear this article aims at developing a “bottom-up” as opposed to a “top-down” approach to the analysis of transmedia characters that initially focuses on specific instantiations of characters as they are represented in individual media texts before asking how these local work-specific characters relate to other local work-specific characters within a relevant transmedia context
While I certainly acknowledge the importance of what I have called transmedia figures, the proposed theoretical framework privileges the analysis of characters that are represented in single works or individual media texts, before asking how these local work-specific characters relate to other local work-specific characters or coalesce into glocal transmedia characters as part of global transmedia character networks, acknowledging that there really is no reason to assume that medial representations of characters sharing the same name are representations of the same character
Summary
Despite the aforementioned saliency of characters in contemporary media culture, Jens Eder’s early observation “that many have written only a little and only a few have written much on characters” (2008a: 40; “dass viele nur wenig und nur wenige viel zum Bereich der Figur geschrieben haben”) still rings true today. While I cannot explore these complex and historically situated issues in any detail, I will briefly return to the kinds of normative discourses that are connected to these complementary frameworks of the “myth,” the “brand,” and the “canon” in the final section At first glance, this seems to be different in recent works at the intersection of Japanese studies and media studies on the function of characters in the Japanese “media mix,” but even those works echo the broad distinction between characters as represented entities with an intentional inner life that are located in storyworlds, on the one hand, and characters as “popular heroes” or “cultural icons,” on the other. This once more connects to Wilde’s observations about the “pre-narra-
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
