Mapping commercial intertextuality: HBO’s True Blood

Corporate synergy, cross-media promotion and transmedia storytelling are increasingly prevalent features of media production today, yet they generate highly divergent readings. Criticism of synergistic corporate control and commercialism in some political economic accounts contrasts with celebrations of fan/prosumer agency, active audiences and resistant readings in others. This debate reviews the different approaches taken by political economists and culturalists in their analyses of commercial intertextuality. Tracing influential studies, it considers the tensions and affinities between divergent readings, and grounds for synthesis. Here, the article addresses the ordering of (inter)textual space, outlining the main forms of textual production along an axis from corporate to autonomous texts. Contemporary forms of cross-media/cross-platform intertextuality and online promotional strategies are examined through a case study of HBO’s True Blood. The article also assesses the implications of work on commercial intertextuality for (re)engagements between critical political economy and culturalist approaches.