Transmedia Storytelling and Transforming Human Imagination

Abstract

New media norms are determined by technology. New forms create multiple medianorms with transmedia and social media applications. Publishing and/or broadcasting parts of a story in electronic/digital cross-media broadens the network of mental engagement more compared to mere adaptations of a literary work to another medium. With developments in transmedia outlets, new layers are added to the story and storytelling is further broadened and deepened. It is then necessary to consider how the human imagination will be affected by new progresses: Will it expand or narrow? Will it be virtuality or reality oriented? How can we guide imagination in this unpredictable media environment? In this theoretical study, possible answers are examined in order to propose satisfactory responses and to gain insight into the nature of the subject.