Vol. 9 No. 17 (2022): Original and copy, from remake to meme: adaptations, replicas and recreations in communication
Coordinators: Juan Francisco Gutiérrez Lozano (Universidad de Málaga), Natalia Meléndez Malavé (Universidad de Málaga) and Adolfo Carratalá Simón (Universitat de València).
The aim of this monograph is to address some trends that have a particular impact on the production and circulation of contemporary communication content: narratives based on the repetition, versioning or reworking of pre-existing messages. The reuse of narrative materials is not a new phenomenon and has been the subject of attention from different approaches, from reflections on the original and the copy (Benjamin) or the recreation of myths, to intertextuality (Kristeva, Bakhtin) or the contribution of Genette, who refers us to the apt notion of palimpsest, to the more recent interest in film remakes (Gray & Johnson) or other audiovisual adaptations, without forgetting the current relevance of transmedia stories (Jenkins).
The technological possibilities of the digital universe are, of course, leading to a renewal of the logics of production based on these repetitions or re-elaborations, which even favour the participation of the receivers, now reconfigured as senders of renewed messages based on the original (fanfics, memes, etc.). It is precisely within this line of work that several selected articles are included in this issue. For example, "The prosumer audience in Operación Triunfo (OT9, OT10 and OT11). Revitalisation of the television format?", by María del Mar Ramón López, Adriana Paíno-Ambrosio and Mª Isabel Rodríguez-Fidalgo, explores the case study of a transmedia experience, with consumers taking on an active role in the process of extension from linear television to second and third screens. The authors analyse from the point of view of the audiences themselves their contributions as spontaneous (re)creators of content, such as that offered by the followers of the popular talent show through fanart or fanvids. The text shows how the involvement of the receivers can be a revulsive factor, especially in the face of the abandonment or decline of traditional television consumption by young audiences.
Without leaving television, imitation itself as a parodic resource is an interesting aspect for studying the repetition and recreation of popular culture references in the media. This is the case of Patricia Gascón Vera's proposal, entitled "Imitation on television. Characterizations of political leaders in El intermedio, El hormiguero and Late motiv". The author establishes an overview of this humorous resource in Spanish television programming during election periods, by means of a qualitative analysis of these three formats in which it is particularly important. The study is completed with interviews with the people responsible for these parodies, the comedians Joaquín Reyes, Carlos Latre and Raúl Pérez.
The use of humour in the elaboration of new content from previously circulated messages is also highlighted in the study "Appropriation and recycling for audiovisual creation as a critical resource. Case study: The trilling hand. María Cañas", by Francisco José Gómez Díaz. His work investigates how the appropriationist technique, facilitated thanks to the resources offered by the Internet, is revealed as a strategy for documenting and elaborating a new discourse on contemporary society and technological development. The analysis of the work of the so-called archivist of Seville shows how the artistic, critical and humorous will takes advantage of the recycling of audiovisual pieces to create new video narratives with which to give back to today's society an uncomfortable reflection of itself.
It is clear that the satirical or humorous use of all kinds of media material (photographs, videos, audios, fragments of television, film or digital productions) is one of the most important elements in the recreations studied in this monograph. Thus, the bulk of the articles in this special issue focus profusely on the meme, a highly significant communicative product of our time, as a phenomenon worthy of study whose presence has become ubiquitous in our everyday lives with its massive and viral circulation through numerous devices and platforms. Three articles in the special feature include a review of both those created by the recipients themselves and those produced in a more professionalised manner, as well as their use in social networks or in commercial or corporate communication.
In "Humour and identity as expressive resources for brand building in social networks. The case of Malacara", by José Luis Torres-Martín, Andrea Castro-Martínez and Pablo Díaz-Morilla, unravels this humorous viral phenomenon through an in-depth interview with its creator and the analysis of the digital communication strategy of its profiles on various social networks. The authors conclude that the use of intertextual references from popular culture is one of the factors behind the success of the initiative. Iván Navarro Flores also makes a similar point in his text "Los autores de memes en Instagram y la mediatización de la música urbana en España", in which, through digital ethnography, he identifies the appearance of a "memesphere" on Instagram made up of creators of memes specialising in certain themes, among which there is a group dedicated to the production of memes about characters and events linked to urban music. The article delves into the interdependence of these creators with other profiles in the sector, such as artists and audiences.
Also focusing on the way in which audiences interact with the new distorted messages circulating on the Internet, the article "Comparative study on the potential of the meme as a political communication resource: reception, uses and meanings in university students (Ecuador-Spain)", by Santiago Tejedor, Fernanda Tusa and Laura Cervi, vindicates the meme as an element in the exercise of freedom of expression, which allows for intervention in the public sphere by criticising and questioning power with humour and irreverence. The results of the surveys of students participating in the research show how memes revitalise the political discourse of citizens.
Closing the contributions collected in this thematic issue, and also dealing with a core issue of the possible proposals, in relation to cross-references or intertexts, is the article on versions and adaptations (in this case cinematographic) entitled "Remakes, updates and film tributes in John Carpenter's cinema" by Alfonso M. Rodríguez de Austria Giménez de Aragón and Andoni Iturbe Tolosa. The text presents Carpenter's work as a vehicle for tributes and winks as well as, in turn, an original source of later remakes, of whose production teams he was even a member. The film remake is also the backbone of the work "Film production in Spanish Cinema. The remakes of Telecinco Cinema", by Francisco Jiménez Alcarria and Ana Mejón. In their work, both researchers analyse four adaptations in which this production company has participated in recent years, in most cases remakes of Italian comedies that have been more successful at the box office than the originals, to conclude that the products generated by means of this strategy achieve considerable acceptance among audiences and maximise profits by reducing business risks and uncertainties.
In addition to the articles in the monograph, there are also two texts by guest authors that focus on two of the main themes proposed for this special issue: the first on the original concept of hypermedia humour, in this case the "live-tweeting" of events commented on through memes, by Damián Fraticelli, professor and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires and the National University of the Arts (Argentina). The author focuses on the complex procedures of collaborative appropriation involved in this phenomenon, which must be taken into account as essential today in order to understand how events are constructed in contemporary societies. Likewise, the second guest author, Concepción Cascajosa Virino, professor at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), highlights in her text how narrative recycling has become a source of nourishment for international and state catalogues of video-on-demand services, and underlines how, in addition, this growing resource in contemporary audiovisual production also encourages the construction of brands in the new ecosystem of digital platforms, while intertwining in a symbolic or nostalgic way with the content inherited from the media groups of traditional television.
