Paper short abstract:

This presentation is interested in constructions of gender in the interaction of two texts of different media (one of which is a tv serial) that “contain” the same narrative/hyperdiegesis. Seriality functions as underlying principle for the “Doing Gender” as well the ongoing process between the texts.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation is interested in the "relationship", "conversation" or "competition" between two serial texts of different media (i.e. comic and television series, game and television series, novel and television series) that "contain" the same narrative, or rather a hyperdiegesis (Matt Hills).

Seriality is a central characteristic of this relationship and enables or forces one text to react to developments of plots, characters or the storyworld of the other. The relationship is not a fixed configuration - a source text and an adaptation - but an ongoing process in which both texts participate in and occupy different positions: imitating, supplementing, contrasting or contradicting/competing with another.

A helpful framework to approach this crossmedial hyperdiegesis is Henry Jenkins' concept of Transmedia Storytelling "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. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story" (Jenkins 2011).

As gender can also be thought of in terms of seriality (Iris Marion Young, Judith Butler), an analysis of its' negotiations in crossmedia narratives gives insight into their serial interaction. The presentation will focus on the following questions: How do serial narratives establish gender as a repeated/varied performance and a means of dynamic characterization? Which potential do conceptualizations of gender as series/connections of the concepts gender and seriality have for the analysis of narratives? How does a remediating of narratives continue or disrupt performances of gender?