The management of Elvis Aaron Presley imaginary: genesis and storytelling of a transmedia star

Abstract

This essay proposes a reading of the management of Elvis Presley's imagination as an anticipatory moment, in the midst of mass media society, of forms of transmedia storytelling then theorized in the early 2000s (Jenkins 2007).
The strategies implemented by Colonel Tom Parker (Bertetti, Freeman and Scolari 2020) in the elaboration of the narration are identified, not always harmonious with those (de Certeau 1980) of appropriation typical of the fandom (Dickerson 2022, Simpson 2020).
The elaboration of the posthumous media imagery of copyright holders is also analysed: from the updating of old strategies to the elaboration of moments of co-creation with new audiences, including online ones.
Spaces not exempt from communicative drifts typical of conspiracy theories (Monaci 2021), linked to Elvis’ death, also an integral part of the Presleyan grassroots reworking.