Contesting Canon: Authorship, Authority and Audiences in Transmedia Narrative Franchises.

本文将建立一个跨媒体创作模式，说明在多作者跨媒体叙事特许经营中，作者权威和典范是如何通过行业话语和粉丝评论来构建的。之所以被选中，是因为权威和正典问题在粉丝的讨论中非常突出，四个案例研究将检验这一模式：迪士尼最近收购的《星球大战》；G.R.R.马丁的《冰与火之歌》及其改编自HBO的电视剧《权力的游戏》；A·萨普科夫斯基的《巫师》传奇，其CD Projekt的游戏改编和Netflix的电视改编；游戏工作室根据同名桌面微型战争游戏改编的《战锤40,000》系列。这篇论文将分析推特和Reddit等平台上的粉丝话语，涉及到正典和对特定作者声音的依恋的感知问题，以及粉丝对作者和知识产权所有者的意见如何有助于正典争辩。还将分析相关部分(例如，贸易新闻)，以确定媒体行业如何构建规范(特别是关于知识产权所有者所发挥的作用)，并确定跨媒体特许经营权的不同元素的作者如何通过宣传话语来维护其作者权威。对每个系列元素的叙事分析将决定不同平台上的故事世界之间的关系，以及叙事连贯性的整体水平。对这些证据来源进行三角测量将有助于更好地理解该行业邀请观众参与跨媒体故事世界的方式，以及观众对集中化作者权威的断言的反应。

The thesis will develop a model of transmedia authorship that illustrates how authorial authority and canonicity are constructed by both industry discourse and fan commentary within multiply-authored transmedia narrative franchises. Chosen because issues of authority and canonicity are prominent in fan discourses, four case studies will test this model: Disney's recently acquired 'Star Wars'; G.R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and its HBO TV adaptation 'Game of Thrones'; A. Sapkowski's 'The Witcher' saga, its CD Projekt's game adaptation and Netflix's TV adaptation; Games Workshop's 'Warhammer 40,000' franchise, based on the eponymous tabletop miniature wargame. The thesis will analyse fan discourses on platforms such as Twitter and Reddit with regard to perceived problematic aspects of canon and attachment to a specific authorial voice, and the ways in which fan opinions of authors and IP owners contributes to canon contestation. Relevant paratexts (e.g. the trade press) will also be analysed to ascertain how media industries construct canon (particularly with regard to the role that IP owners play) and to determine how the authors of the different elements of the transmedia franchise assert their authorial authority through promotional discourses. Narrative analysis of elements of each franchise will determine the relationship amongst storyworlds on different platforms and the overall level of narrative coherence. Triangulating these evidence sources will lead to a greater understanding of the ways in which the industry invites audiences to engage with transmedia storyworlds and how audiences react to assertations of centralised authorial authority.