Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory And History Of Subcreation

Machine Generated Contents Note: World-building As A Human Activity -- Toward A Theory Of Imaginary Worlds -- 1. Worlds Within The World -- Philosophy Of Possible Worlds -- Imagination, Creation, And Subcreation -- Degrees Of Subcreation -- Story Vs. World: Storytelling And World-building -- Invention, Completeness, And Consistency -- Invention -- Completeness -- Consistency -- Immersion, Absorption, And Saturation -- World Gestalten: Ellipsis, Logic, And Extrapolation -- Catalysts Of Speculation -- Connecting The Secondary World To The Primary World -- 2. History Of Imaginary Worlds -- Transnarrative Characters And Literary Cycles -- Mythical And Unknown World -- Travelers' Tales And The Age Of Exploration -- Utopias And Dystopias -- Genres Of Science Fiction And Fantasy -- Science Fiction -- Fantasy -- Rise Of Mass Media -- Early Cinema And Comic Strips -- Oz: The First Great Transmedial World -- Pulp Magazines -- Developments In Cinema And Theater -- Radio And Television -- Developments In Literature -- Lord Of The Rings And Tolkien's Influence -- New Universes And The Rise Of The Media Franchise -- Interactive Worlds -- Into The Computer Age -- Worlds As Art And Thought Experiments -- 3. World Structures And Systems Of Relationships -- Secondary World Infrastructures -- Maps -- Timelines -- Genealogies -- Nature -- Culture -- Language -- Mythology -- Philosophy -- Tying Different Infrastructures Together -- 4. More Than A Story: Narrative Threads And Narrative Fabric -- Narrative Threads, Braids, And Fabric -- Backstory And World History -- Sequence Elements And Internarrative Theory -- Retroactive Continuity (retcon) And Reboots -- Crossovers, Multiverses, And Retroactive Linkages -- Interactivity And Alternate Storylines -- Story Of The World: Making Of Documentation -- 5. Subcreation Within Subcreated Worlds -- Importance Of The Word -- Self-reflexivity -- Subcreated Subcreators And Diegetic World-building -- Evil Subcreators -- 6. Transmedial Growth And Adaptation -- Nature Of Transmediality -- Windows On The World: Words, Images, Objects, Sounds, And Interactions -- Transmedial Expansion -- Description -- Visualization -- Auralization -- Interactivation -- Deinteractivation -- Encountering Transmedial Worlds -- 7. Circles Of Authorship -- Open And Closed Worlds -- Levels Of Canonicity -- Originator And Main Author -- Estates, Heirs, And Torchbearers -- Employees And Freelancers -- Approved, Derivative, And Ancillary Products -- Elaborationists And Fan Productions -- Participatory Worlds -- Creation, Subcreation, And The Imago Dei. Mark J. P. Wolf. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.