Writing for the World: Cultural Memory and International Bestsellers

This essay explores the global ambitions of contemporary bestseller writers through four domains that dynamise the present age of fiction: its transmedia character, the commodification of the past, the synergy between popular bestsellers and global tourism, and lastly the multivalent vogue of fantasy. Delving into these issues, the essay investigates some defining aspects of today’s highly volatile fictional imagination, which thrives on the transformative power of cross-pollination and seeks synergy between different branches of the cultural industry so as to maximize the commercial impact of a single story.