Thanks to modern technology, we are now living in an age of multiplatform fictional worlds, as television, film, the Internet, graphic novels, toys and more facilitate the creation of diverse yet compact imaginary universes, which are often recognisable as brands and exhibit well-defined identities. This volume, situated at the cutting edge of media theory, explores this phenomenon from both theoretical and practical perspectives, uncovering how the construction of these worlds influences our own determination of values and meaning in contemporary society.

is assistant professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Montreal. She has published Romanzo Criminale. Transmedia and Beyond (Ca' Foscari University Press, 2013), co-edited Networking Images. Approches interdisciplinaires des images en réseau (Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2013), various essays in international scientific journals such as Mise au point, MEI, SERIES, Cinergie, and chapters in edited collections on television seriality, fandom, media paratexts, and transmedia.

Introduction: Worlds, Today, Marta Boni, University of MontrealSection 1: Theories of World Building1) The Aesthetics of Proliferation, Marie-Laure Ryan, independent scholar2) Building Science Fiction Worlds, Paolo Bertetti, University of Siena3)ŸHe Doesn’t Look Like Sherlock HolmesŒ The Truth Value and Existential Status of Fictional Worlds and their Characters, Julien Lapointe, Concordia University, Montreal4) ŸVisible WorldŒ The Atlas as a Visual Form of Knowledge and Narrative Paradigm in Contemporary Art ,Cristina Baldacci, IUAV, VeniceSection 2: Economies of World Building5) A World of Disney: Building a Transmedia Storyworld for Mickey and his Friends, Matthew Freeman, Bath Spa University6) World Building Logics and Copyright: the Dark Knight and the Great Detective, Roberta Pearson, University of Nottingham7) Battleworlds: The Management of Multiplicity in the Media Industries, Derek Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Madison8) Platform Producer Meets Game Master: On the Conditions for the Media Mix, Marc Steinberg, Concordia University, Montreal9) Narrative Ecosystems: a Multidisciplinary Approach to Media Worlds, Veronica Innocenti and Guglielmo Pescatore, University of BolognaSection 3: Immersion10) The Building and Blurring of Worlds: Sound, Space, and Complex Narrative Cinema, Justin Horton, Georgia State University11) Beyond Immersion: Absorption, Saturation, and Overflow in the Building of Imaginary Worlds, Mark J.P. Wolf, Concordia University, Wisconsin12) Zombie Escape and Survival Plans: Mapping the Transmedial World of the Dead, Bernard Perron, University of Montreal13) MMORPG as Locally Realized Worlds of Action, Laurent Di Filippo, Centre de recherches sur les médiations, Université de Lorraine, Nordistik, Universität BaselSection 4: Media as World Building Devices14) The Worries of the World(s): Cartoons and Cinema, Karen Redrobe (formerly Beckman), University of Pennsylvania15) Linguistic Terrain and World Time: Chinese Media Theories and Their World Imaginations, Victor Fan, King’s College London16) The Worlds Align: Media Convergence and Complementary Storyworlds in Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, Dru Jeffries, University of Toronto17) World Building and Metafiction in Contemporary Comic Books: Metalepsis and Figurative Process of Graphic Fiction, Denis Mellier, University of PoitiersSection 5: Appropriations and Fan Practices18) The Monster at the End of This Book: Metalepsis, Fandom and Worldmaking in Contemporary TV Series, Valentina Re, Link Campus University of Rome19) Traversing the ŸWhoniverseŒ: Doctor Who’s Hyperdiegesis and Transmedia Discontinuity/Diachrony, Matt Hills, University of Huddersfield20) Transmediaphilia, World Building, and the Pleasures of the Personal Digital Archive, Jim Collins, University of Notre Dame21) The Politics of World-building: Heteroglossia in Janelle Monáe’s Afrofuturist WondaLand, Dan Hassler-Forest, Utrecht University