An Italian Ecosystem: Gomorra

The chapter addresses one of Italian TV’s most important experiments is the product of an ongoing narrative ecosystem: Sky Italia’s Gomorrah. The series originated in pre-existing texts, however this version completely reshapes them. Its production values are inspired by US “quality television”, and it is part of a wider ecosystem that includes a book, many theatrical performances, a couple of web parodies, a lot of unofficial merchandising, viral memes and a critically acclaimed film. Firstly, the chapter addresses Gomorrah the book, whose structure mirrors the systemic network of the Camorra criminal organization. It emphasizes the fractal configuration of both systems, creating a composition pattern that dominates the proliferation of life, given that each part is both a module and a whole at the same time. The fractal structure is one of the elements that grant the system a certain resilience, underlying its ability to survive external and internal changes and shocks. Secondly, the chapter deals with layered maps, suggesting that all the products composing the entire narrative ecosystem create a complex space for the characters to inhabit. Each portion is part of the cartography of globalization, visually representing the breadth of the criminal organization, its relations to the legal expressions of capitalism, and the pervasiveness of its culture all over the world. In so doing, it outlines the links between texts and context, as they mutually shape each other. Finally, the chapter addresses the unexpected expansions provided by audiences and fans, as well as re-workings of the universe by “professional Youtubers”. It considers the cultural frenzy surrounding the television series, and particularly around the language and “cult” phrases pronounced by the main characters, which triggered a proliferation of official and unofficial videos and merchandise products in the last year. Gomorrah-inspired content, spread all over the media, is therefore modular, partially serialized, and creates a layered narrative that perpetually renews itself. The many versions of the narrative are neither conventional adaptations, nor legible in terms of autonomy or dependence from one another. Furthermore, not all of them derive from a single, central source, but many of them grow rapidly and autonomously at the edges of the franchise. Each product could be read as an independent text, but to do so would disguise its wider relations to popular culture, not to mention its ability to be a living part of a complex system. Overall Gomorrah’s narrative is in every respect an ecosystem that is balanced and spreadable at the same time, and regulated by biotic and abiotic elements: in one word, it is alive.