Introduction

The transmedia phenomenon has led to the burgeoning of transmedia studies in media, cultural and communication studies departments across the academy, not to mention across a spectrum of creative and cultural industries. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that there are multiple versions of transmediality emerging around the world, even within the same country. It presents what the authors call a 'state of the art' of transmedia production in Spain, focusing on fictional narratives. The book explores how transmedia brand narratives convert the relationship between consumers and products in cultural spaces. It considers the dual role of transmediality in Estonia, showing it function as both a mechanism for supporting cultural heterogeneity and for enforcing coherence and stability in culture via maintaining the relevance of historical media texts. The book also explores transmediality as institutional communication and national branding in Japan by Manuel Hernandez-Perez's.