Brigid Cherry
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781800859227
- eISBN:
- 9781800852259
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781800859227.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
This volume in the Constellations series explores in detail what made the TV series Lost a popular hit with critics and viewers, while also accruing intense fan scrutiny. Lost is discussed in terms ...
More
This volume in the Constellations series explores in detail what made the TV series Lost a popular hit with critics and viewers, while also accruing intense fan scrutiny. Lost is discussed in terms of its generic hybridity, and in particular how it incorporates and reframes familiar tropes of science fiction in the context of a Survivor reality TV-style plot on the one hand and as a ‘mystery box’ of extremely complex hermeneutic codes and hyperdeigesis on the other. It sets out a detailed analysis of Lost’s neo-baroque aesthetics, situating it in relation to its reconfigurations of the time travel, reproductive technology, conspiracy, and surveillance strains of science fiction. Further, it explores the ways in which Lost uses science fictional narrative approaches to the intersections between themes of gender, identity, community, science, faith and philosophic thought. The book also discusses the series’ relationship with its narrative extensions in online games, merchandise and secondary texts. Accordingly, it sets out an in-depth analysis of Lost as a narrative that invited the viewer into a storyworld extending beyond the television episodes into paratexts and transmedia storytelling, of which Lost is a significant example from the early 2000s. Constellations: Lost is thus an important retrospective examination of a significant television series and an indispensable account of a pioneering transmedia text.Less
This volume in the Constellations series explores in detail what made the TV series Lost a popular hit with critics and viewers, while also accruing intense fan scrutiny. Lost is discussed in terms of its generic hybridity, and in particular how it incorporates and reframes familiar tropes of science fiction in the context of a Survivor reality TV-style plot on the one hand and as a ‘mystery box’ of extremely complex hermeneutic codes and hyperdeigesis on the other. It sets out a detailed analysis of Lost’s neo-baroque aesthetics, situating it in relation to its reconfigurations of the time travel, reproductive technology, conspiracy, and surveillance strains of science fiction. Further, it explores the ways in which Lost uses science fictional narrative approaches to the intersections between themes of gender, identity, community, science, faith and philosophic thought. The book also discusses the series’ relationship with its narrative extensions in online games, merchandise and secondary texts. Accordingly, it sets out an in-depth analysis of Lost as a narrative that invited the viewer into a storyworld extending beyond the television episodes into paratexts and transmedia storytelling, of which Lost is a significant example from the early 2000s. Constellations: Lost is thus an important retrospective examination of a significant television series and an indispensable account of a pioneering transmedia text.
Brigid Cherry
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781800859227
- eISBN:
- 9781800852259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781800859227.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
The concluding remarks consider the popular culture legacy of Lost, and Lost’s standing as a significant milestone in science fiction television. It’s position in terms of being an important example ...
More
The concluding remarks consider the popular culture legacy of Lost, and Lost’s standing as a significant milestone in science fiction television. It’s position in terms of being an important example of telefantasy is set out, including how this is achieved in relation to its hyperdiegesis and perpetuated hermeneutic. It is further contextualised in terms of its position in the evolution and development of transmedia storytelling, and the importance of its paratexts in fan culture.Less
The concluding remarks consider the popular culture legacy of Lost, and Lost’s standing as a significant milestone in science fiction television. It’s position in terms of being an important example of telefantasy is set out, including how this is achieved in relation to its hyperdiegesis and perpetuated hermeneutic. It is further contextualised in terms of its position in the evolution and development of transmedia storytelling, and the importance of its paratexts in fan culture.
Brigid Cherry
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781800859227
- eISBN:
- 9781800852259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781800859227.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
The opening chapter engages with the idea that the narrative of Lost hybridises some of the common narrative structures of mainstream television series with those employed by science ...
More
The opening chapter engages with the idea that the narrative of Lost hybridises some of the common narrative structures of mainstream television series with those employed by science fiction/telefantasy series that appeal to cult and fan audiences. Accordingly, the chapter opens with an analysis of the narrative construction of the series, identifying the ways in which its themes of mystery and enigma work as the structuring narrative code. It discusses the ways in which an arc story that never attains complete closure, whilst interweaving multiple character storylines across many timelines and dispersed locations, produces a rich diegesis. Further, it explores how the complex diegesis and (lack of) resolution contribute to the mythic scale in the narrative of Lost.Less
The opening chapter engages with the idea that the narrative of Lost hybridises some of the common narrative structures of mainstream television series with those employed by science fiction/telefantasy series that appeal to cult and fan audiences. Accordingly, the chapter opens with an analysis of the narrative construction of the series, identifying the ways in which its themes of mystery and enigma work as the structuring narrative code. It discusses the ways in which an arc story that never attains complete closure, whilst interweaving multiple character storylines across many timelines and dispersed locations, produces a rich diegesis. Further, it explores how the complex diegesis and (lack of) resolution contribute to the mythic scale in the narrative of Lost.
