Between adaptation, intermediality and cultural series: The example of the photonovel

Abstract

This article first addresses some general claims concerning the notions of intermediality and transmediality, which are examined from the viewpoint of medium-specificity and constrained writing. It suggests that medium migration is inevitable but not unlimited, and that one has to take into account the complex interplay of threats and opportunities that are produced by the dynamics of an open media system. Second, it studies the less well-known genre of the photonovel to display some of these handicaps and possibilities, with a strong emphasis on the socio-cultural and historical context of the works, the form and function of which varies in often very surprising ways. It also includes a theoretical debate with other analyses of the photonovel, such as the ‘double face-out’ theory developed by Rosalind Krauss (and later appropriated by Diarmuid Costello) in her reading of the post-photonovel installation art of James Coleman.