Dimensional expansions and shiftings: fan fiction and transmedia storytelling the the Fringeverse

Abstract

This article explores the characteristics of user-generated texts in fictional transmedia storytelling based on the fan fiction originating from FOX’s television series Fringe (2008-2013). A fan fiction (also known as fanfic or fic) is a piece of writing in which the author recreates the setting, events and characters of a source text or canon. After reviewing fan theories and practices, the article focuses on three examples examples of Fringe fan fiction analysing them with a double-edged methodology that combines narrative semiotics and narratology. Based on the results we update a set of transmedia narrative strategies by adding dimensional expansion and shifting, and also redefine the different areas of the storyworld where fan fiction is set with special emphasis on alternate universe (AU) scenarios.