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"It's off-book!": Developing Serial Complexity across Media in A Series of Unfortunate Events
- Children's Literature Association Quarterly
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 45, Number 1, Spring 2020
- pp. 59-79
- 10.1353/chq.2020.0004
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
The article traces the development of narrative complexity in the book and television versions of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The series has been criticized for its repetitive structure; however, drawing on seriality theory by Umberto Eco, Jason Mittell and Frank Kelleter, I demonstrate how it does move beyond repetition and towards a more complex narrative structure. I point out how the recent Netflix adaptation, rather than merely repeating the books, adds to this development of serial complexity. Thus, by comparing the book series and the adaptation, I demonstrate a tendency towards developing transmedial complexity in serial narratives.