by David Peyron , published on 16.12.2009

First part: Transmedia and the creation of universes

Here, I will present the process of cultural convergence, a concept created by the American researcher Henry Jenkins, its consequences on the cultural industry and more particularly how it applies to the field of videogames.

First, let’s start with a definition of the concept. Cultural convergence is a process of industrial and social evolution, which represents the growing links between media and the consumers’ increasing capacity to understand these multimedia interactions. The concept is therefore divided into two main sections according to a classic dichotomy of sociologic reflections about culture: production and reception.

The fist element is that the producers of content, the cultural industries and even the authors facilitate the link between media, between systems. They do this by creating content rich in references, trans-textual, inspired by the narration methods, the themes and the form of other media, and often approaching their creations as a whole, a multimedia world. The strongest example of that is The Matrix, which wasn’t conceived as a film but as a transmedia fantasy world, filled with historical references of the genre and where the videogame brings as many elements to the story as the films, the comic book series or the short animated films that followed. This sub-phenomenon of multimedia content conceived that way from the start is what Jenkins calls “world making”. The context of the content’s production is therefore quite specific and will influence that of the reception.

Indeed, the second interdependent and symmetric aspect is that, in order to understand and fully comprehend this phenomenon, there needs to be a particular audience, an attentive, meticulous audience, in other words, fans that have a cult relationship toward the content. In the case of cultural convergence, the audience can have access, like in the case of The Matrix, to all these elements, but only the most diligent multimedia fan will take the trouble to assemble them all and understand the whole transmedia inter-textual meaning available. It’s also the culture of the niche audience, the different readings and interpretations of a same content depend on whether or not one understand which kind of inter-textual meaning it uses and seeks its potential declensions. The culture of convergence is also, as we’ll see, linked to an audience that’s increasingly participative and whose relationship to the content will also be determined by the degree of dedication towards the object.

For example, a young comic book reader who has all the references, knows the codes of the universe, and goes to see a film about X-men will have a different experience than his parents who’ve never opened such a book. To understand The Matrix’ reference to cyberpunks and Japanese culture, you need a certain cultural baggage, which doesn’t stop others who don’t have that baggage from appreciating the film. Likewise, many spectators have seen the Star Wars trilogy, but few know that some secondary characters or planets that were barely mentioned were subsequently widely developed in videogames and books resulting from the franchise. These examples show the role of cultural convergence in the evolution of the relationship toward the content.

[1] Henry Jenkins, Convergence culture, where old and new media collide, New York university press, 2006