Lostology: transmedia storytelling and expansion/compression strategies

Scolari, Carlos Alberto, 1963-

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sem-2013-0038

Lostology: transmedia storytelling and expansion/compression strategies

Citation

Scolari CA. Lostology: transmedia storytelling and expansion/compression strategies. Semiotica. 2013;195:45-68. doi:10.1515/sem-2013-0038

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze Lost from the perspective of transmedia storytelling and to propose a taxonomy of transmedia expansion/compression strategies. In the first section, the article presents the basic components of transmedia storytelling from a theoretical point of view that combines narratology and semiotics. After describing the most important components of Lost's transmedia fictional universe in the second section, the article presents a general description and taxonomy of expansion/compression narrative strategies based on traditional rhetorical categories. The article also analyzes “compressed texts” – like recapitulations – and their role inside the expansive strategies.