“The Sandman”: Transmedia narratives as a therapy against fear

Abstract

The article explores transmedia narratives as a space for reinterpretation of the most widespread fears of humanity. Human culture has long been using stories to pass on knowledge about potential threats while also establishing the range of potential reactions to the menace. Over time, such shared mental representations took the form of characters, events and entire plots which serve as easily recognizable symbols of fear. The present study delves into psychological mechanisms which allow individuals to process their fears through personal and cultural narratives. Individual and cultural memory is highly malleable and subject to change via a continuous meaning-making process. While recent findings in psychology and neuroscience confirm efficiency of storytelling in coping with trauma and developing a more positive attitude to the world around, semiotics of culture elaborates on similar processes at a cultural level. Though many of the common symbols are reinforced while traveling from one text to another, they are gradually adapting to the changing realities of the people using them. Transmedia narratives, in their turn, contribute to an explosive nature of this process since multiple transformations are happening simultaneously through different media. The storyworld of “The Sandman”, constructed by Neil Gaiman who published a series of comic books and co-produced a TV show based on them, is quite illustrative of such rapid change. Here, the symbolic representations of fears originating both in ancient folklore and some of the most recent events appear in quite an unexpected light. The multi-platform narrative destabilizes seemingly fixed images of Death, Desire, Sin and much more, challenging the reasons behind our fears as well as the “correct” ways of dealing with them. As the transmedia world of “The Sandman” is taken further by professionals and fans, it may be able to deconstruct our perceptions of fear and build some new ones.