Narrative Universe Research Articles

Mediating Monstrosity: The Threat of the (In)Visible in the MonsterVerse

Drawing on Susan Sontag’s understanding of the anxieties about contemporary existence lurking beneath the surface of science fiction films, this article argues that the focus on media monitoring, mapping and materializing the giant monster in the MonsterVerse functions as a negotiation of the limits of visibility of catastrophe. Hiding, waiting, lurking underneath the surface in the “Hollow Earth”, the giant monsters are—paradoxically—invisible and hypervisible, absent and present at the same time. Throughout and across the films and series in the narrative universe, media in the MonsterVerse are charged with “proving” the threat of the (in)visible, while at the same time challenging mediated registers of truth and trustability. Making the monster is simultaneously presented as the promise and problem of technological mediation. With the emphasis on flashbacks to different time periods—including the 1940s in Kong: Skull Island (2017), the 1950s in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023) and the 1990s in Godzilla (2014)—this not only appears to be about the mediatization of the monsters but rather their analogization. Captured in hand-drawn maps, grainy images and static sound recordings, proving the existence of the monstrous threat becomes a question of materiality as well.

Alternate reality games (ARG) and fandom involvement in Taylor Swift's narrative universe

El estudio tiene el objetivo de determinar qué elementos de los juegos de realidad alterna (ARG) de la cantante Taylor Swift se integran en su estrategia de comunicación y su universo narrativo. Para ello, se plantea detectar las características que poseen los ARG según la literatura especializada y extrapolar estas variables del universo Swift como modelo de éxito de ARG aplicable a marcas comerciales. Los resultados demuestran que el ARG cumple con 19/20 características definidas y que su estrategia de comunicación pivota en un universo narrativo que se ha expandido en multitud de plataformas y redes durante años.

A Study on the Construction of a Universal Narrative Schema Based on Transidentity Storytelling Theory: Poetics as a Cornerstone for the Discourse of Transidentity Theory

A Study on the Construction of a Universal Narrative Schema Based on Transidentity Storytelling Theory: Poetics as a Cornerstone for the Discourse of Transidentity Theory

One myth to rule them all and in the darkness bind them: a critical examination of Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey

ABSTRACT This special edition embarks on a critical exploration of Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey, challenging its dominance as a universal narrative framework and its implications for contemporary storytelling, particularly in the context of evolving media landscapes. Drawing on C.P. Nield's critique of Campbell's monomyth as a "Hollywood McMyth," the collection of articles within this edition seeks to unravel the monomyth by advocating for a narrative plurality that reflects a more inclusive and diverse spectrum of stories. Contributors to this edition engage with alternative narrative paradigms that emphasise community, companionship, and commonality, moving beyond the individualistic focus of Campbell's framework. This shift is underscored by the rise of interactive and immersive storytelling technologies, such as VR, AR, and XR, which demand a re-evaluation of narrative structures to accommodate the dynamic and fluid nature of contemporary storytelling. Through a decolonial lens, the articles collectively argue for a decentring of narrative meaning, proposing new approaches that embrace the complexities of global challenges and the multiplicity of human experiences. Setting the stage for a critical examination of The Hero's Journey, inviting readers to consider the ethical implications of narratives in shaping socio-cultural values and norms in an era of immersive and participatory media.

Neo-humanism and the Modern World: A Philosophical Perspective through the Lens of Philip Roth's Everyman

Everyman by Philip Roth is a realistic work that covers the life of an unnamed Jewish American from childhood to adulthood in a bildungsroman style, slowly revealing mundaneness in every element of life and potentially being related to "Everyman" who exists in the world. An individual's self-centered focus and an abundance of ideas that examine his very existence and the proportion of significance he has had in the lives of those around him relate to the exciting phases of life that parallel the universal narrative of marriage, divorce, betrayal, sex, regret, emptiness, introspection, anxiety, ageing illness, and death. Everyman by Philip Roth makes many allusions to the memories and experiences of immigrants. It speaks to people who live lives torn between the past and the present, between freedom and religion, and between finding transcendence through humanism rather than via faith in God. It also talks on the ideological conflicts that have developed between dads and sons as a result of contemporary upheavals. The potential conclusion of the study is that modern humanism is founded on this through negation in the creation and consumption of texts, on the notion that human civilization is not monolithic but rather multifaceted and dynamic, meaning that understanding it requires a long gaze through immense time and the novel perspectives of modernity.

THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MYTHS IN POLITICS

A myth in politics can be defined as an altered form of political consciousness, in which knowledge and understanding of factual information is replaced by images, symbols. In this paper, we proceed from the understanding that, unlike the political myth, a classical myth is a universal narrative (narrative), a traditional legend that figuratively interprets historical events and serves to explain natural phenomena and meanings, the origin of customs, traditions, beliefs - human civilizations and the whole world as a whole, through allegorical emotional and sensual images. Usually the origin of a traditional myth is unknown, while a myth that has a political nature is often professionally launched and has a specific circle of people for whose benefit it is created. In the political struggle, myths can be used as purposefully created and disseminated stories (narratives), sacralizing the existing system of power and denigrating its opponents in the public mind. The article discusses the role of political myth in world history and politics. Also presented is a model for the analysis of myths in politics, which includes the definition of the essence, structure, features, processes and functions of myths in politics. A comparative analysis of traditional and political myths has been carried out.

Why Do Human Beings Rise Up?

Foucault has had an enormous impact on social and legal theory. In particular, there is an overwhelming use of Foucauldian concepts in critical theories of rights. This article asks what Foucault’s work and its reception say concerning the normative legitimacy of individual rights, and what insights this discussion offers for rights theory. Though Foucauldian critique is largely historiographical and empirical rather than normative, I argue, along with scholars such as Fraser, that normative implications are rampant in Foucault, and that a normative interest can thus validly be taken. Ultimately, I argue that concepts of agency and autonomy remain present in Foucault and critical rights theory, and that this affirms both a trans-contextual basis of resistance as well as the enduring importance of rights language. I conclude that Foucauldian rights concepts and normative humanist approaches are codependent, as they both address different aspects of similar central problems. While humanism is concerned with universal reasons for resistance, Foucauldian theory offers critical tools to problematize homogenizing, exclusionary elements within universal narratives. However, the two worldviews remain codependent because they must both, in the end, affirm the legitimacy of some type of rights universalism, as legal critique otherwise robs itself of its own preconditions.

From Movie to Narrative Universe: Transmedia Storytelling of Zootopia Film IP

From Movie to Narrative Universe: Transmedia Storytelling of Zootopia Film IP

Historical Contexts, Literary Voices: Exploring Resistance and Marginalized Narratives in Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' through a New Historicist Framework

Ernest Hemingway, celebrated for his prowess as both a journalist and literary artist, demonstrates a profound engagement with diverse societal strata and narrative dimensions in his works. This abstract explores Hemingway's thematic exploration of war, particularly within the Spanish landscapes of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "A Farewell to Arms," highlighting the transcendence of national identity. Employing a New Historicist perspective, the deconstruction of Hemingway's narratives reveals the transformative potential of this critical approach in amplifying diverse voices. Despite his American origins, Hemingway's depiction of Spain goes beyond geographical boundaries, encapsulating universal narratives while providing a platform for marginalized voices. In "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Hemingway strategically incorporates supporting characters to amplify the voices of the marginalized, emphasizing an inclusive ethos aligned with New Historicism. The novel becomes a conduit for multiplicity, illustrating the traumatic repercussions of war on the human psyche. Hemingway, viewed through the lens of New Historicism, emerges as a custodian of war writing, constructing a framework that elucidates power structures and oppressive regimes. The metaphor of 'Alluvial soil' symbolizes the dynamic and evolving nature of historical narratives, promoting an acknowledgment of history as inherently multi-narrative. This paradigm shift encourages the acceptance that history is subjective and contributes to the cultivation of a transformative space for societal and cultural progress. Ultimately, Hemingway's narrative craftsmanship, interpreted through New Historicism, extends beyond literary exploration, evolving into a critical discourse that shapes collective consciousness and fosters societal transformation.

Horror Manga: Themes and Stylistics of Japanese Horror Comics

The objective of this contribution is to create a first, ideal mapping of a “category” of manga that has experienced and is still experiencing a very successful season. Although they are generically identified with the term “horror manga” or “horror comics,” these manga should be placed within a narrative universe so magmatic as to escape, however, any univocal representation. When we speak of Japanese horror, in fact, we tend to imagine well-defined scenarios and stereotypes, often conveyed by some novels, manga and, perhaps even more so, some films that have bewitched the West, such as The Ring (1998) and Ju-on (2000). Despite the success in Italy, too, of authors such as Umezu Kazuo (楳図かずお, b. 1936), Hino Hideshi (日野日出志, b. 1946) and Itō Junji (伊藤潤二, b. 1963), knowledge of horror manga is limited to a number of works and authors who represent, however, only a small percentage of a far more polychrome and multifaceted narrative universe. In other words, the tip of an iceberg just waiting to be brought to light. This preliminary contribution is intended to trace a path, thematic/narrative in nature, from which the route of “horror” manga can emerge in a diachronic, dynamic and evolutionary perspective. It goes without saying that, dealing with nearly seventy years of horror comic book publications, it will be impossible to make an exhaustive examination that takes into account all publishing realities, large and small. That is why the field of investigation will be narrowed down and focus exclusively on a specific historical period, from its beginnings in 1958 to the boom of the 1980s, examining the most recurrent themes and stylistic features of this time segment.

Transmedial Analysis of the Passion Narrative in the Scripture and the Movie the Passion of the Christ

Transmedia storytelling is the art of narrating stories using various media, with each medium adding something distinct to the narrative universe. This narrative universe may be accomplished with any media, including radio, TV, movies, video games, internet video, and web applications. The paper aims to demonstrate how different media platforms may convey one or more events over various channels to create a coherent whole. The article aims to comprehend the intricacies of translating written information into a visual medium using a cinematic approach. This study examines a trans-medial examination of two distinct transmedia storytelling approaches: the conventional methods of conveying the gospels in the Bible and the translation of the Gospels in the Scripture into a film. The two sources that were taken into consideration are the Four Gospels in the Holy Bible, which describes the final hours of Jesus’ life on Earth, and Mel Gibson’s film adaptation of those Gospels in the Scripture, The Passion of the Christ, which shows the events surrounding Christ’s conception, life, teachings, healings, temptation, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Gibson opted for the transmedia medium of a movie to raise global awareness of Jesus’ sufferings in his last hours on Earth. This essay traces Gibson’s creative liberty by comparing his portrayal of The Passion of the Christ to the Biblical account of Jesus’ suffering in his final hours.

From Orthodoxy to the Universal Logic of Human Rights: A Case Study of Film Thappad (The Slap)

Abstract This article analyses the film Thappad (The Slap) (2020) directed by Anubhav Sinha, which portrays slapping as a form of domestic abuse and a violation of women’s right to self-respect. This study investigates the incorporation of Universal Human Rights principles into the discourse of Hindi cinema. Through textual analysis of the film text, the paper examines how the film employs the language of rights as a counter-narrative against patriarchal ideologies, promoting gender equality and dignity within domestic settings. It argues that by countering the conservative cultural perspectives pertaining to spousal abuse through the discourse and philosophy of Human Rights, the film contributes to societal transformation. The paper identifies a shift in the film’s discourse from traditional, orthodox narratives to universal narratives centred around rights.

Perception, experience and resilience to risks: a global analysis

Individual resilience is crucial amid rising global threats, yet risk perceptions and resilience worldwide remain inadequately elucidated. This research pioneers a global-scale analysis of individual risk perspectives and perceived resilience capacities. Leveraging survey data encompassing over 120 countries, we develop novel indices quantifying subjective risk perceptions, experiences, impacts, and resilience across diverse populations. Causal analysis techniques shed light on the complex dynamics shaping individual confidence in their resilience. We unveil vast disparities in risk impacts arising from differential adaptation rates. Income perception emerges as an outsized driver of resilience globally, though its influence varies contextually. Ultimately, this study challenges universal narratives of homogeneous risk experiences and perceived resilience worldwide. The globally-representative indices and causal insights provide vital evidence to inform context-specific, demographically-attuned interventions for strengthening resilience equitably. This research underscores the urgent need for inclusive policies tailored to localised risk landscapes.

Identity Crisis: Alienation and Religious Demarcation in Bhisham Sahni’s Pali

Bhisham Sahni's "Pali" the novel, delves into the devastating fallout of the Indian-Pakistani split and emphasizes the severe suffering brought on by religious enmity. Pali the protagonist of the novel a representative of solitude and melancholy, moves through a range of feelings, from solitary to identity-crisis. This research highlights the wider impact of religious prejudice and parallels the suffering of individuals caught in the crossfire. The narrative, which is linked with contemporary partition literature, reveals common trauma and its lingering effects. Pali's anguish highlights the universal narrative of suffering and reveals the pervasive effects of hatred. Despite Sahni's efforts to link experience and understanding, some agonies are still indescribable. The anguish that Pali, the main character, endured resides imprisoned, scorched too deeply for words. The book serves as a conduit for these profound effects, reflecting inexpressible sentiments. Pali encapsulates generational trauma, testifying to the religious enmity that birthed the India-Pakistan division. Pali's journey unfolds into a tapestry of emotions, revealing identity's complexity, coexistence's fragility, and prejudice's destructiveness. Sahni's work transcends his works portraying humanity's spirit, historical shadows, and a call for harmony amidst discord. This research revitalizes "Pali," its resonance reaching those seeking to comprehend the past and shape an inclusive, empathetic future.

Relocating Yiddish voices: Narrative disfigurement and the “almost-lost” story in Edgar Hilsenrath’s holocaust novel Jossel Wassermanns Heimkehr

My contribution to this special issue investigates how Holocaust survivor and German-Jewish author Edgar Hilsenrath’s 1993 novel Jossel Wassermanns Heimkehr (“Jossel Wassermann’s Homecoming”) adopts a narrative practice of voicing Yiddish-speaking Holocaust victims in a post-Holocaust context for the purpose of imagining fictional alternatives to the historical violence inflicted upon them. Using a narrative strategy that I term the “almost-lost” story, Hilsenrath creates a narrative universe in which Yiddish voices, if not the actual Yiddish speakers, can be collected and saved as “anti-data” by disembodied “Quasselstimmen” (German for “chatty voices”). Coupled with strategic narrative interruptions that surface through iterations of narrative disfigurement, Hilsenrath gives rise to narrative possibilities for Jewish resistance within the scope of a literary text. I demonstrate how attentive readers can identify through Hilsenrath’s highly complex narrative a signature for reconsidering the confluence of imaginative fiction and Holocaust history, emphasizing the reader’s ethical dilemma in encountering this history, while also considering how fiction can point us in new directions as we endeavor to pry open and better understand the full scope of atrocities committed against humanity in search for a renewed commitment to humanity and justice in the aftermath of genocidal violence.

The Tales of Bluebeard’s Wives: Carmen Maria Machado’s Intertextual Storytelling in In the Dream House and “The Husband Stitch”

This paper examines the gothic fairy tale in Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir In the Dream House and short story “The Husband Stitch” with a focus on Bluebeard’s insistent presence and the interweaving of reality, gothic horror, and fairy tale. In the memoir, Machado restages her experience of queer intimate partner violence in the form of a gothic fairy tale as “The Queen and the Squid”, reminiscent of the tale of Bluebeard’s latest wife. By including gothic fairy-tale elements in the autobiographical text, Machado blurs the boundaries between the fictional and non-fictional realm, between her story and that of Bluebeard’s latest wife, thereby rewriting the tale for a queer context. The annotation of the memoir using Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature further superimposes the fairy tale onto Dream House. Machado’s short story “The Husband Stitch” is a gender-aware inversion of “Bluebeard”. The reappearance of the tale throughout Machado’s work reveals the persistence of abusive behavioral patterns in relationships to the present day. Machado’s intertextual storytelling blurs the lines between autobiographical events and the tale of Bluebeard’s latest wife, creating a shared narrative universe of experiences of women who have dealt with their own iteration of Bluebeard.

From England to Austria and Croatia: Transfer of Technology and Strokes of Fate

In The Waterfalls of Slunj (1963), Heimito von Doderer constructs an exceptionally diverse and character-rich novel which takes place in the decades around the year 1900 in Vienna and various other locations in the Habsburg Monarchy, including Croatia. The plot is set in motion by an English industrialist who decides to set up a plant to produce agricultural machinery in Austria. However, it does not honor its initial promise of a long-winded portrayal of economic, social and political circumstances; Doderer’s concern seems to demonstrate superordinate, fateful correlations pointing the characters’ “cluelessness and diffidence” regarding “the fate of others” (Schmidt-Dengler). Even though the novel focuses on private, everyday occurrences, numerous references to contemporary developments in the history of mentalities, the judicial and economic systems, as well as in engineering and technology suggest that the coordinates of its narrative universe are construed in accordance with the historical reality. In this respect, it discusses not only the conditions specific to the so-called ‘Austrian version of capitalism’, but also its repercussions for the imperial periphery and, by extension, for Croatia. However, through an uncritical portrayal of relationships of dominance in line with those actually present in the Habsburg Monarchy, the author delineates the “Other” according to preconceived cultural stereotypes. Consequently, the novel can be read as a retrospectively oriented utopia, in which the positive representation of the Habsburg Empire and the omission of political history point to Doderer’s discontent with his own and Austria’s Nazi past.

Erotics of War and Sovereignty in Iris Murdoch’s The Red and the Green

In The Red and the Green the Irish writer Iris Murdoch creates a narrative universe that focuses on the Easter Rising of 1916, one of the most tumultuous turns in twentieth century Irish history, and introduces a rich web of moral conflicts and dilemmas experienced by members of an Anglo-Irish community in Dublin. The main concern of this article is to introduce a reading of Murdoch’s The Red and the Green in the context of the mythopoetic discourse of the Easter Rising of 1916, which predominantly reflected the nationalist rhetoric of the Irish Revivalist Movement, and to show how Murdoch revisualizes recent Irish history through her own cultural origins. The argument is grounded on the premise that Millie features in the novel as the embodiment of the feminine archetype and symbolic representation of the Erotic in stark contrast to the war rhetoric of the Easter Rising that relies heavily on the desexualized, romanticized and idealized versions of the feminine in Celtic mythic imagination. Millie’s feminine archetypal image and her symbolic representation of Eros distorts and shakes the masculine rhetoric of the Rising. As a response to the desexualized, sterile, and therefore displaced representations of the Sovereignty Goddess in the literature of the Irish Revival, Murdoch introduces a critical ethos in the novel by restoring the essence of this feminine element in the portrayal of Millie, the central character around whom the plot largely revolves.

Memories and Places in Twentieth-Century Suzhou Tanci

During China's Ming–Qing era, professional storytelling genres developed in economically and culturally advanced regions, alongside a mature book culture and major developments of theater genres. Since the eighteenth century, two Suzhoudialect-based storytelling genres emerged in the city of Suzhou and its neighboring area: tanci 彈詞 (plucking rhymes, chantefable) and pinghua 評話 (straight storytelling). Unlike pinghua's connection to time, that is, the history of different dynasties, the most popular tanci stories excel in presenting space: characters from many different tanci stories traverse a narrative universe that is based on spatial–temporal imagination of a constructed Jiangnan during the "Ming" Dynasty, often with Suzhou at its center. Therefore, tanci differs from many other performative genres and functions as a highly localized practice of collective memory: as an oral performative art, Suzhou tanci negotiates with both official history and plebian lore and legends; as a daily communal activity, it invites local audiences to practice imaginative reconstruction of Suzhou's past by embracing plots and characters in specific places that have specific spatial structures. Therefore, the charm of tanci lies not in the development of new stories but in resituating old local stories in the everchanging modern city to maintain a stable group identity for the locals.

El universo narrativo transmedia de MasterChef: un modelo narrativo estructurado

El objetivo es descubrir los elementos que construyen el universo narrativo transmedia de MasterChef para examinar si posee un modelo estructurado que pueda aplicarse a otros casos. Para ello, se combinan las líneas fundamentales de debate sobre los universos narrativos transmedia, constatando posibles aportaciones a este campo. Analizar interdisciplinarmente un estudio de caso permite extrapolar un modelo narrativo definido que conjuga elementos interactivos, fusión ficción-realidad y producción de contenidos de valor que expande la fórmula a nuevos formatos y a otros países, manteniendo el interés de la audiencia pese al paso del tiempo.