The epic strikes back How transmedia fantasy franchises reshape the epic tradition

Fantasy franchises are strongly associated with the epic in popular discourse today. This dissertation analyses this connection as a classical reception, whereby the meaning of ‘the epic’ is constructed in a reciprocal interaction between ancient influences (indirectly) on the present and present-day perspectives reshaping our views of the past. What idea of the epic emerges from this interaction?
Taking Star Wars as a paradigmatic case study, this dissertation discusses three aspects of the epic that are highlighted by its reception in fantasy franchises. First, a perceived overlap between ‘epic’ and ‘fantasy’ reveals parallels between fantasy films and classical epics in the way they symbolically unite various contemporary cultural-historical echoes in their imaginary worlds.
Second, a popular epic plot structure centring around the character arc of an individual, world-saving hero is universally traced back to two ‘ancient’ models by filmmakers: Aristotle’s Poetics and Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero’s journey’. While these ideas have been transformed greatly from antiquity to popular cinema, they constitute a powerful way in which the idea of the epic is constructed today.
‘Worldbuilding’ is a third aspect of the epic highlighted by fantasy franchises. Though commonly considered a ‘modern’ phenomenon, the comparative vantage point of fantasy franchise allows us to recognize various worldbuilding techniques in the literary epic tradition, some of which, in fact, have indirectly inspired worldbuilding in epic franchises today.
By exploring these three aspects of the epic highlighted by fantasy franchises, I conclude, we may not only conceptualize fantasy franchises as heirs to the epic tradition, but moreover recognize various surprisingly ‘modern’ dynamics in ancient epic itself.