ABSTRACT
Fantasy and science fiction are crucial genres for techniques of transmedia storytelling, with notable contemporary examples such as The Matrix, Star Wars, Lost, Heroes, etc. What do these genres offer as a structural or thematic framework for constructing storyworlds that cross multiple media? The nature of world-creating in science fiction and fantasy is pivotal, as the creation of detailed worlds that serve as a bedrock for inner (fictional) references is a structural necessity. The paper investigates, from a semiotic point of view, the nature and the modes of composition of science-fiction worlds as “structurally different from the real one” (Eco 1984, 1257), showing the mechanisms of world building, together with the modes of representation and transmission of information.
