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 ...
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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/9781800859227.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
The introduction sets out an overview of the series and provides background details of its production. It opens with an account of the development of Lost and its journey into production via ABC and ...
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The introduction sets out an overview of the series and provides background details of its production. It opens with an account of the development of Lost and its journey into production via ABC and Disney. Discussion then follows of how the series can be positioned in terms of quality television and ‘must-see-TV', creating a popular hit. This is contrasted with the ‘puzzle box’ approach to the narrative undertaken by Abrams, and this is discussed as a major component of the cult appeal of Lost. The introduction then goes on to provide an overview of audience ratings, critical reception and industry recognition. It sets out the way in which Lost stands out as a television milestone in terms of its cult appeal, and in particular its significance as a programme ideally fitted to the era of digital media, cultural convergence and transmedia storytelling.Less
The introduction sets out an overview of the series and provides background details of its production. It opens with an account of the development of Lost and its journey into production via ABC and Disney. Discussion then follows of how the series can be positioned in terms of quality television and ‘must-see-TV', creating a popular hit. This is contrasted with the ‘puzzle box’ approach to the narrative undertaken by Abrams, and this is discussed as a major component of the cult appeal of Lost. The introduction then goes on to provide an overview of audience ratings, critical reception and industry recognition. It sets out the way in which Lost stands out as a television milestone in terms of its cult appeal, and in particular its significance as a programme ideally fitted to the era of digital media, cultural convergence and transmedia storytelling.
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/9781800859227.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
Chapter 2 analyses the neo-baroque aesthetic of Lost, particularly the narrative’s organization around games and game play. The discussion of the perpetuated hermeneutic and hyperdiegesis in chapter ...
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Chapter 2 analyses the neo-baroque aesthetic of Lost, particularly the narrative’s organization around games and game play. The discussion of the perpetuated hermeneutic and hyperdiegesis in chapter 1 is extended into a directed analysis of the narrative puzzles found in the text of Lost. Specifically, this is discussed in the context of the neo-baroque aesthetics of the postmodern television series. As an example of the neo-baroque, Lost not only interweaves multiple plot threads that continue over many episodes and even whole seasons, but it frequently presents these in a highly fragmented way. In presenting an analysis of Lost’s fragmented narrative, this chapter also addresses the affective engagements this facilitates as the narrative demands the active engagement of an audience familiar with past episodes, enabling the viewer to recognize the virtuosity of the series in constructing a multi-layered narrative. Further, this is discussed in terms of transmedia storytelling, with engaged viewers being required to co-ordinate multiple interrelated plot fragments across different media paratexts.Less
Chapter 2 analyses the neo-baroque aesthetic of Lost, particularly the narrative’s organization around games and game play. The discussion of the perpetuated hermeneutic and hyperdiegesis in chapter 1 is extended into a directed analysis of the narrative puzzles found in the text of Lost. Specifically, this is discussed in the context of the neo-baroque aesthetics of the postmodern television series. As an example of the neo-baroque, Lost not only interweaves multiple plot threads that continue over many episodes and even whole seasons, but it frequently presents these in a highly fragmented way. In presenting an analysis of Lost’s fragmented narrative, this chapter also addresses the affective engagements this facilitates as the narrative demands the active engagement of an audience familiar with past episodes, enabling the viewer to recognize the virtuosity of the series in constructing a multi-layered narrative. Further, this is discussed in terms of transmedia storytelling, with engaged viewers being required to co-ordinate multiple interrelated plot fragments across different media paratexts.
Rachel L. Rickard Rebellino
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781496827135
- eISBN:
- 9781496827180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496827135.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
The mid-2010s saw a wave of nonfiction young adult literature published by authors who initially gained fame through YouTube. In addition to the authors’ shared background experiences, these memoirs ...
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The mid-2010s saw a wave of nonfiction young adult literature published by authors who initially gained fame through YouTube. In addition to the authors’ shared background experiences, these memoirs have another feature in common. Each example of life writing puts forward a consistent narrative regarding the rationale for their existence: increased intimacy. This chapter offers an analysis of YA YouTube memoirs, first identifying the unique features of this subgenre of youth literature and, then, exploring the question of intimacy across print and digital formats. Despite these author’s claims, intimacy in print or digital narratives might be an impossibility; however, analysis of these memoirs, which function as examples of transmedia storytelling, offers a fruitful space to explore the question of what counts as young adult literature and how scholars of YA literature might study this genre as it expands beyond print texts.Less
The mid-2010s saw a wave of nonfiction young adult literature published by authors who initially gained fame through YouTube. In addition to the authors’ shared background experiences, these memoirs have another feature in common. Each example of life writing puts forward a consistent narrative regarding the rationale for their existence: increased intimacy. This chapter offers an analysis of YA YouTube memoirs, first identifying the unique features of this subgenre of youth literature and, then, exploring the question of intimacy across print and digital formats. Despite these author’s claims, intimacy in print or digital narratives might be an impossibility; however, analysis of these memoirs, which function as examples of transmedia storytelling, offers a fruitful space to explore the question of what counts as young adult literature and how scholars of YA literature might study this genre as it expands beyond print texts.