Abstract

This chapter presents the model of “narrative ecosystems”, examining their specific features: they are inhabited by narrative forms, characters, and viewers that get modified through space and time; they are interconnected structures; they tend to reach and maintain a certain degree of equilibrium (stability, balance), orchestrating a persistent world that persists beyond the small screen and that modifies itself in dynamic ways according to developmental paradigms often unforeseen; they are non-procedural systems, not determined by a syntagmatic sequence of functions, but by declarative elements that describe the reference environment, making the narrative material a narrative universe that might be traveled over by the user in unprecedented ways; they are formed by an abiotic component (the media environment) and by a biotic component (the narrative forms). Inhabiting a narrative ecosystem is a distributed and diversified experience that generates participation. Traditional tools for the narrative analysis (semiotics, narratology, etc.) are no longer suitable for such new serial forms. Other disciplines, such as information architecture may offer useful interpretative tools.

Keywords: Narrative Ecosystems, Vast Narratives, Resilience, Narrative Prediction, Contemporary Television