Donna Hancox - The Revolution in Transmedia Storytelling through Place

This book proposes that the theory and practice of transmedia storytelling must be reconsidered from a social impact and community development perspective, and that time has come for a rigorous critique of the limited ways in which it has been commonly represented.

Transmedia storytelling has become one of the most influential and profitable innovations in the field of media and entertainment. It has changed the ways audiences interact with films, television and web series, advertising, gaming and book publishing. It has also shifted the practices around creation and dissemination of such content. This book asserts that the futures of transmedia storytelling for social impact or change are deeply tied to understandings of place grounded in human geography. Through a series of case studies of projects which challenge the status quo of transmedia, this book explores the elements of transmedia that can be used to amplify under-represented voices and make stories that signal a more inclusive and sustainable future.

This book offers a valuable contribution to the literature in the areas of transmedia storytelling, narratology, digital fiction, electronic literature, locative storytelling, performative writing, digital culture studies and human geography.

Donna Hancox is Associate Professor in the School of Creative Practice at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. Her research is focused on transformative creative practice and social impact, particularly the role of stories and creative technology in supporting healthy and inclusive communities.

Series Editor: Matthew Freeman

This series publishes monographs and edited collections that sit at the cutting-edge of todays interdisciplinary cross-platform media landscape. Topics should consider emerging transmedia applications in and across industries, cultures, arts, practices, or research methodologies. The series is especially interested in research exploring the future possibilities of an interconnected media landscape that looks beyond the field of media studies, notably broadening to include socio-political contexts, education, experience design, mixed-reality, journalism, the proliferation of screens, as well as art- and writing-based dimensions to do with the role of digital platforms like VR, apps and iDocs to tell new stories and express new ideas across multiple platforms in ways that join up with the social world.

Transmediality in Independent Journalism
The Turkish Case
Dilek Grsoy

The Revolution in Transmedia Storytelling through Place
Pervasive, Ambient and Situated
Donna Hancox

Telenovelas and Transformation
Saving Brazils Television Industry
Rosane Svartman

Pervasive, Ambient and Situated

First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2021 Donna Hancox

The right of Donna Hancox to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-0-367-22238-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-27400-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC

This book was not a solo effort. So many people have supported, guided and inspired me, particularly during early 2020 when I needed all the help I could get.

Thank you to Lee McGowan for your friendship, expertise and generosity always, but especially on the days when I wanted to give up.

Sandra Gattenhof, Helen Klaebe and Sasha Mackay thank you for picking up the slack on our projects while I wrote and reminding me that team work makes the dream work. I could not ask for a better team.

Alex Philp, your magic editing and proofreading skills made this a better book and your calm presence kept me sane right to the very end. Thank you.

I am grateful to all the innovative storytellers and committed activists who this book is about, and I was fortunate enough to speak directly with some of them.

Kate Pullinger, your astonishing talent and vision is matched only by your kindness and willingness to share your knowledge, thank you.

Duncan Speakman, your beautifully evocative and moving works were a privilege to write about, thank you.

I want to also acknowledge the community of Roebourne and the producers from BighART who created a series of extraordinary stories which exemplify the transformative potential of transmedia storytelling. It was an honour to close the book writing about the NEOMAD and NEO Learning projects.

Lastly, thank you to Matthew Freeman for this opportunity and for leading the way in re-imagining the futures of transmedia storytelling.

This is not quite the book I set out to write. In 2020 things changed, and this book changed along with them.

I was deep into writing and re-drafting the manuscript when bushfires started to rage through Australia. We are a nation used to fires and floods and cyclones, but this was different. They started earlier than usual and they were less fires than they were firestorms. It was horrifying to witness and we knew that we were witnessing the consequences of a failure to act on climate change. It felt like the bushfires would be the defining experience of 2020. That they would change us and we in turn would demand action from our government. Then of course COVID-19 made its way around the world, and continues to change the way we live. It still looks like it used to except we are wearing masks, we cant hug people who dont live in our house, the news starts each evening with the number of new cases and no one knows when, how or if it will end. We are living with more uncertainty and vulnerability than we have allowed ourselves to admit previously. Like many I have the very strong sense that a veil has been lifted, and we are in the midst of a series of societal reckonings that reveal how broken many of the systems we rely on are and that change is needed on a large scale. We cannot afford to continue tinkering around the edges. This is the mood in which this book was completed. To be honest, it started to feel that writing a book about transmedia storytelling was no longer important. Fortunately, the projects I had chosen to write about and the activism occurring all over the world reminded me how powerful stories are, how precious place is and that technology is a tool that is not just for profit but for positive change.