Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Boundless Storytelling: An Investigation of the Transmedial Expansion of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire Supervisor: Paper submitted in partial Dr. Jasper Schelstraete fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of “Master in de Vergelijkende Moderne Letterkunde” by Esther De Baecke May 2016 George Martin has woven for us the tapestry of Westeros, filled with resonating characters who see the world through a different and sometimes magical prism. And still we empathize, we sympathize, we live with and live through these exotic beings. We see enough truth of the human condition in each of them to fall in love or to spit with hate. Classify it anyway you’d like; call it fantasy, or low fantasy, or high fantasy, or allegory. Feel free to assign the label of your choice. I’m sure those labels won’t bother George, however they’re applied or defined. Because what he knows, [...] and his millions of fans certainly know, is that what he really writes are damned great books, for this night and all the nights to come. (Salvatore xi-xii) Preface In the course of my academic career at UGhent, I have encountered several Monty Pythonesque “and now for something completely different” moments. After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray during the summer holidays of 2013, I was intensely intrigued by the flamboyant, yet tragic Oscar Wilde. As a result, I decided to peruse his bibliography in order to find a suitable topic for my bachelor paper. That topic would turn out to be “Aestheticism in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales”, a topic that allowed me to completely immerse myself in tales with elegant, sensorily overwhelming phrases, and bittersweet endings. However, in order to expand my horizon, I was resolved to research something completely different for my master’s dissertation in 2014-2015. This time, the search led to “American Poetry Contemporary American Poetry and Globalization.” I am still grateful to Sarah Posman for introducing me to the work of Ben Lerner and Juliana Spahr, and perhaps contemporary poetry in general. And now we arrive at this year’s topic. Again, I wanted to find something entirely new to learn about. And seeing that it was my last chance to do so, I really wanted to make it count and pick something a little bit extraordinary. Which brings me to the first “thank you” of this dissertation, as I would like to thank my supervisor dr. Jasper Schelstraete for allowing me to pursue the topic of A Song of Ice and Fire for my master’s dissertation. In addition, I would like to thank him for the feedback and the advise I needed to keep me on the right path. A second wave of gratitude is directed at my parents, who had to put up with me and my academic-related stress for yet another year. And let’s not forget the dog, on whom I can always rely for hairy hugs and is always eager to go on a walk with me when I need to empty my head. Another big thanks goes to my friends, with whom I can always be myself. You guys can always bring a smile to my mouth. Lastly, my appreciation goes out to George R. R. Martin. He was the architect of the vast and rich world we are about to explore. And, most of all, I am grateful to him for writing the following phrase, which pretty much sums up the reason why I started studying literature in the first place: “‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,’ said Jojen. ‘The man who never reads lives only one.’” (Martin, DD 495) Table of Contents PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................ 10 0. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 12 0.1. Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 0.2. Methodology and Aim .................................................................................................................................... 13 0.3. The Corpus and the Selected Media .......................................................................................................... 14 1. TRANSMEDIA AND TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING..................................................... 16 1.1. Overview: Media Analyses ............................................................................................................................ 16 1.2. Adaptation ........................................................................................................................................................... 17 1.3. Transmedia storytelling ................................................................................................................................ 19 1.4. Critical Remarks................................................................................................................................................ 24 2. THE SIF TRANSMEDIAL STORYWORLD, A TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................... 27 2.1. Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 27 2.2. Spreadability and Drillability ...................................................................................................................... 27 2.3. Continuity and Multiplicity .......................................................................................................................... 29 2.4. Immersion and Extractability ..................................................................................................................... 33 2.5. World-building .................................................................................................................................................. 35 2.6. Seriality ................................................................................................................................................................. 38 2.7. Subjectivity ......................................................................................................................................................... 39 2.8. Performance ....................................................................................................................................................... 42 2.8.1. Cultural Attractors and Cultural Activators ................................................................................. 42 2.8.2. Audience Participation ......................................................................................................................... 42 2.9. Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................................ 44 3. EFFECTS OF TRANSMEDIAL EXPANSION ON THE SIF STORYWORLD .................. 47 3.1. Internal Effects of Transmedial Expansion ........................................................................................... 47 3.1.1. A Richer Storyworld .............................................................................................................................. 47 3.1.2. Plot and Characterisation .................................................................................................................... 48 3.2. External Effects of Transmedial Expansion ........................................................................................... 52 3.2.1. Freedom ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 3.2.2. Participation and Speculation ........................................................................................................... 52 3.2.2.1. Unique Position of GOT ............................................................................................................... 54 4. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................... 56 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 59 5.1. Primary Sources ................................................................................................................................................ 59 5.2. Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................................................... 60 5.3. Illustrations......................................................................................................................................................... 63 6. APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................. 65 6.1. Overview of the SIF Storyworld ................................................................................................................. 65 6.2. The “Known World” of SIF ...........................................................................................................................