Transtextuality in the Batman franchise on the example of Gotham: a narratological study

Abstract

Given that 2019 marked the 80th anniversary of the creation of Batman, there exists an extensive body of text surrounding the character and his storyworld. However, prior academic study has been mainly concerned with the external discourses of the franchise, giving little thought to the narratives contained within. As the Batman franchise is an example of character-centric worldbuilding, a logical choice is to access this body of text through character analysis even when taking a narratological approach. Additionally, since prior scholarly attention on the characters of the franchise has also mainly concentrated on Batman, there exists a persistent research gap when it comes to the study of other major characters in the franchise. Thus, this thesis concerns the representations of the Riddler and the Penguin in the television series Gotham, examining them from the point of view of transtextuality in order to determine how different texts in the Batman franchise might interact with one another to create an interconnected textual network.