The Avatar Television Franchise: Storytelling, Identity, Trauma, and Fandom

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender(2005-08) and its sequel The Legend of Korra(2012-14) are among the most acclaimed and influential U.S. animated television series of the 21st century. Yet, despite their elevated status, there have been few academic works published about them. The Avatar Television Franchise: Storytelling, Identity, Trauma, Fandom and Reception remedies this gap by bringing together a wide range of scholarly writings on these shows.

This edited collection is comprised of 13 chapters organized into 4 sections, featuring close readings of key episodes, analyzing how they create meaning as well as illustrating how established theories can guide those readings. Some chapters explore different theories relating to identity as well as considering the repercussions of depicting real-world identities in these shows, while others examine the various manifestations of trauma from throughout the franchise as well as illustrates different scholarly approaches to the topic. Still others utilize fan studies to understand the myriad ways viewers have responded to and interpreted the Avatarfranchise.

Francis M. Agnoli is an independent scholar in the U.S. whose previous research has focused on the intersection between race and animation studies.