From novel to webcomic : Transmedial translation and collaborative process in graphic storytelling

Guerrasio, Monica and Baker, Brian and Ashworth, Jenn (2023) From novel to webcomic : Transmedial translation and collaborative process in graphic storytelling. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

The subject of this PhD will analyse the collaborative process within a creative team and the practice of writing as research when it explores a new medium under emergence, in this case webcomics. As the project is concerned with the transposition of my trilogy of novels, I assumed the responsibilities of translating the prose into script and creating the story boarding. After the first brainstorming session with the illustrator on panels design and flow, changes are negotiated by the team and worked by the artist in the final draft of the panels. It is important to note that, while the illustrator’s input is a vital part of this project, choices concerning the structure and the narrative of the project are in the hands of the author. The research project will take into consideration the dynamics of such partnership and how the loop of creating and feedbacking challenges previously established creative processes while it helps to set new ones. Similarly, as the project has taken the shape of a webcomic, the behaviour of online readers and their response to the content will be monitored through tracking tools on media platforms to see if and to what extent (likes, shares, visit prior posts) readers interact, thus affecting dissemination. This project will research how modern politics, historical events (the Italian Years of Lead) and attitudes feed the narrative, and show how these are balanced and blended with fictional elements. It will also take into consideration the inner mechanisms of both genre and medium as tools capable of dissecting, analysing, and offer alternatives to the questions asked by the contemporary discourse. Finally, as an Italian/English bilingual Fantasy writer, I will reflect on how writing in English has actively shaped my work and argue that my conscious decision to write in English aims at placing my work within the British comic books’ tradition. This choice is also motivated by the lack of an Italian academic tradition in studying creative writing and genres other than literary fiction.