Lukas R.A. Wilde

In Italian Disney comics traditions in particular, there exists a broad genre of literary and film adaptations that has remained quite stable over the decades (to which numerous fictionalized historical stories are also attributed). They have often been addressed as “parodies” both by fans (cf. Duckipedia) and in existing research (cf. Argiolas et al.; Marjanovic; Mikkonen; Petri). Donald Duck and his relatives appear as Rhett Butler, Andrej Nikolajewitsch Bolkónski, Winston Smith etc., while still retaining unmistakable Duck characteristics (visual ones, character traits, as well as “actantial” roles). A “parody,” however, assumes the originals were familiar to readers and that this is what makes the comics appealing; that they play with known deviations, with asymmetrical hybridizations of incongruent diegeses. While this may be true for an adult readership, it remains dubious at best whether a young or adolescent audience is familiar with Margaret Mitchell, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy or George Orwell. Are the literary (or cinematic) allusions instead marked – and understood – in similar ways as “reality signals” where Duckburg adventures integrate parts of our world (settings, characters, or events) andforeground them with media-specific means (cf. Packard)?

The guest lecture “Oneiric Donalds” would like to discuss a twofold, media-specific signposting strategy in and across these stories – of reality signals or intertextuality signals on the one hand and of imaginedother  readerships on the other, characterized by assumed gaps in age or literacy. Drawing on established character models from various fields in the humanities, it will be shown that continuity and canonicity are much more flexible and playful in Duckburg than in many “prototypes” of transmedia narratology (Marvel/DC, Star Wars, Harry Potter etc.) from the outset – within works of individual authors as well as across the Disney media empire. While an “oneiric climate” seems almost part of the “DNA” of Scrooge and Donald, specific creators like Don Rosa, Paolo Cavaglione, or most recently Jason Aaron did and do allude to – or perhaps play with – strictly governed consistency between stories and character versions.


Lukas R.A. Wilde is Professor at the Department of Art and Media Studies of the NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.  His dissertation on the functions of ‘characters’ (kyara ) within everyday communication of contemporary Japanese society was awarded the Roland-Faelske-Award 2018 for the best dissertation in Comics and Animation Studies as well as the GIB Dissertation Award 2021 of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Pictures.  He is the Vice President of theGerman Society for Comic Studies (ComFor)  and one of the organizers and founders of the digital artists initiative Comic Solidarity  and theGINCO Award  (The German Inclusive Comic Award of the Independent Scene). Main research topics:Generative AI-imagery; transmedia studies; comic/manga studies; webcomics and digital comics; emoji research.