Literary Remediations of Contemporary Television Series: From The Familiar to Storytel Originals

In order to investigate the relation between literature and television, one must consider how the influence goes both ways. The chapter accordingly investigates how contemporary literature reflects on, imitates and remediates modern television series. Drawing on theoretical approaches by Jim Collins and Jason Mittell, I analyse Mark Z. Danielewski’s serial novel The Familiar, which mimics and invokes the narrative complexity and social use of contemporary television series. Furthermore, I analyse so-called Storytel Originals: serialized audiobooks produced by the Swedish subscription service Storytel. By investigating the literary remediations of the television series in these different literary contexts, the chapter contributes to new perspectives on the relation between television series and literature, both at an aesthetic level and in relation to production and social contexts.