'I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM': DO CONTO AO JOGO ELETRÔNICO

Bianca Francischini Lisita; André Pithon; Gabriel Henrique Gomes Ceschi

doi:10.34019/1983-8379.2025.v18.49510

Authors

Bianca Francischini Lisita UFSCar https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2735-0185
André Pithon UFSCar https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1946-4900
Gabriel Henrique Gomes Ceschi UFSCar https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9177-2465

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34019/1983-8379.2025.v18.49510

Keywords:

comics, game studies, polysystem theory, science fiction, transcoding

Abstract

This article examines the intersistemic and transcoding processes of Harlan Ellison’s short story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” (1967) that years after is launched into the media of graphic novels (1995) and videogames (1995). Grounded in the theory of cultural polysystems (Even-Zohar), midiology (Debray), and transcoding (Manovich), the study demonstrates how interference between distinct cultural systems (print literature, comics, and games) redefines the work. The comics visually expand the dystopian universe and psychological horror of the short story through their visual language. The video game, by requiring interactivity and player agency — an institutionalized repertoire of the gaming system — radically subverts the narrative: it develops the character’s backgrounds, introduces moral themes and multiple endings (including a positive outcome absent in the short story), while incorporating elements by transcoding processes. The analysis reveals how the different medium reconfigures the message, imposing systemic transformations, while the coexistence of these versions forms an environment that feeds back into the cultural polysystem. This case illustrates intersystemic dynamics, where specific repertoires reshape the work through transcoding.

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Author Biographies

Bianca Francischini Lisita, UFSCar

Doutoranda do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos de Literatura da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), em São Paulo, Brasil. Bolsista CAPES.

André Pithon, UFSCar

Mestrando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos de Literatura da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), em São Paulo, Brasil. Bolsista CAPES.

Gabriel Henrique Gomes Ceschi, UFSCar

Graduando do curso de Licenciatura em Letras -Inglês da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), em São Paulo, Brasil. Bolsista CNPq -PIBIC.

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