---
title: "THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING: PRODUCTION OF WORKS, POACHING COMMUNITIES, AND CREATION OF STORY WORLDS"
url: "https://josephmatheny.com/2011/07/25/the-business-of-storytelling-production-of-works-poaching-communities-and-creation-of-story-worlds/"
language: "en-US"
updated: "2020-05-18T15:47:12+00:00"
---

# THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING: PRODUCTION OF WORKS, POACHING COMMUNITIES, AND CREATION OF STORY WORLDS

[![word\_document\_173689386\_canonical\_86ae8e8970](https://i0.wp.com/josephmatheny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/word_document_173689386_canonical_86ae8e8970.jpeg?resize=164%2C212)](https://i0.wp.com/josephmatheny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/word_document_173689386_canonical_86ae8e8970.jpeg?ssl=1)

THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING: PRODUCTION OF WORKS, POACHING COMMUNITIES, AND CREATION OF STORY WORLDS
 by *Bakioglu, Burcu S.*, Ph.D., **INDIANA UNIVERSITY**, 2009, 402 pages; 3373494

Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

[![pdficon\_large](https://i0.wp.com/josephmatheny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pdficon_large.gif?resize=32%2C32)](http://www.scribd.com/doc/173689386/Bakioglu-The-Business-of-Storytelling)A paper \[PDF\] that uses copious quotes from *[This is Not a Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming](http://www.amazon.com/This-Not-Game-Alternate-ebook/dp/B004JXVXVE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2)* and has section about the [Ong’s Hat](http://josephmatheny.com/?s=ong%27s+hat) project.

**Abstract:**

My study is an analysis of the divergent ways the materiality of works affect the process of meaning-making across various media and investigates how it influences the production of works. A work born in media convergence inevitably elicits hybrid forms of story-telling that offer immersive and interactive environments in which users are expected to perform certain activities. In such an environment, I argue that storytelling becomes a collaborative, and more importantly, a participatory process. My dissertation, ultimately, interrogates the nature of performativity and collaboration in works that extend across various media. I develop the model of performative narratives to refer to works that encourage and rely on such activities for the formation of their texts, such as experimental novels, *YouTube* videos, Alternate Reality Games, and multi-user virtual environments that are based on user-generated content such as *Second Life*. As such, my study investigates how works become sites of struggle because the stories that they narrate are in a state of constant negotiation between its producers/creators, the medium of the work, and the communities that these works mobilize.