CHARACTERS DISASSEMBLED!: UNDERSTANDING HOW FANS INTERPRET CHARACTERS FROM TRANSMEDIA SUPERHERO FRANCHISES

Abstract

The transmedia superhero franchise presents to its readers multiple versions of the same character in different narrative continuities across different texts and media. With so many different iterations of the same character, how do fans conceptualise their favourite characters and what influences these personal character-constructs? Through twelve semi-structured in-depth interviews with self-identified fans, this research shows that fans' character-constructs are highly individualised, fluid, and inextricable from the fan's personal preferences and experiences. These character-constructs consist of traits, events, and associated recurring characters, and may be changed when the fan encounters new information either through re-readings, personal experiences, or a sufficiently powerful text. Fans are also able to cognitively manage multiple different versions of their favourite character while keeping their character-constructs separate from them. Drawing on Ellyn Kaschak's Mattering Map, I theorise that the fan's character-construct is a product of the interactions between the different matter on the individual's Mattering Map, resulting in a character-construct that is inextricable from the fan's personal identity.