Literary Brandscaping

Literary Brandscaping is an emerging conceptual framework that combines literary narratives with place branding and immersive experiences, aiming to create meaningful cultural connections between readers, literary works, and geographic locations. It proposes a new paradigm within literary tourism by integrating the symbolic value of literature into physical and digital environments. While existing research in literary tourism and transmedia storytelling explores how narratives shape space, Literary Brandscaping provides a framework to understand how literature operates as a strategic branding force capable of transforming cultural and geographic identity.

Davis (2012) explores how unconventional content partnerships can lead to marketing success, emphasising the importance of aligning underutilised brands to create demand and drive sales. The concept is inspired by brandscaping, which advocates collaboration between brands to increase impact and relevance (Childs & Jin, 2020), but here it is applied to literature. Instead of an isolated product, the narrative expands and interacts with physical spaces, digital platforms and creative initiatives.

Unlike literary tourism, which often focuses on visiting biographical or fictional sites, Literary Brandscaping emphasises the strategic transformation of these sites into symbolic assets through deliberate branding processes. It differs from transmedia storytelling by focusing not on narrative dispersion across media but on integrating narrative and place into a cohesive branded experience. This approach introduces a critical lens for understanding how literary narratives can generate enduring symbolic capital within spatial and cultural environments.

The use of the branding lens here is not merely metaphorical. Literary Brandscaping draws from the notion of a brand as a cultural and experiential construct-capable of shaping identity, emotion, and memory. Like strong brands, literature builds symbolic worlds that resonate with people and places, making this framework particularly effective for valorising literary settings. Rather than introducing a new set of tools, Literary Brandscaping introduces a new interpretative frame that considers literature not only as content but as a brand capable of shaping place identity and cultural memory. This approach helps identify and analyse how literary narratives can function as narrative capital, transforming geographic locations into symbolic and affective assets.

What sets Literary Brandscaping apart from existing frameworks is not the mere use of specific technologies or media formats but the strategic interpretative lens it offers. Rather than treating literary experiences as isolated applications of AR, gamification or transmedia storytelling, Literary Brandscaping frames them as part of a cohesive narrative ecosystem orchestrated through the logic of branding. Drawing from Hol’s (2004) concept of iconic brands, Literary Brandscaping explores how literary figures and narratives become enduring cultural symbols that transcend media. Similarly, Cova & Cova’s (2002) idea of ‘tribal marketing’ helps frame how literary communities form around shared affective geographies and symbolic touchpoints. From this perspective, brands are not just commercial entities but dynamic narratives capable of creating meaning, community and identity. Similarly, literature constructs symbolic worlds that shape how individuals relate to each other and place. This perspective resonates with recent theories of narrative capital, which highlight how stories function as transferable assets capable of generating symbolic, social, and emotional value. These frameworks further reinforce the branding potential of literature when strategically embedded into physical and digital environments.

Literature has never been confined to the pages of a book. Even before the digital age, readers travelled mentally through fictional scenarios, projecting their imagined worlds into reality. What Literary Brandscaping does is go one step further: these worlds become tangible. Readers can walk through the streets that inspired a novel, immerse themselves in an interactive experience, or explore transmedia content that expands the story. From literary tourism to augmented reality, gamified narratives and sensory experiences, this approach challenges the idea that reading is a passive act. Literature thus transcends textuality, emerging as a multisensory, spatial, and participatory phenomenon.

One of the clearest examples of Literary Brandscaping as a branding strategy is the transformation of Stratford-upon-Avon into “Shakespeare’s Town.” Here, the town is linked to the author biographically and branded around him, from signage to merchandise, theatrical experiences, architectural choices, and festivals. Other examples, such as the rebranding of Macondo in Colombia around García Márquez or the immersive experiences tied to Fernando Pessoa’s Lisbon, demonstrate how Literary Brandscaping can operate in culturally distinct contexts with varying degrees of narrative integration and commercial intention. The literary work becomes a brand that lends identity and emotional resonance to the destination, going far beyond mere references or commemorative plaques.

Another illustrative case is the global branding of the Harry Potter universe in London’s King’s Cross Station, where a fictional platform (9¾) is physically staged for tourists. Here, symbolic geography is not only represented but manufactured through immersive design. In contrast, some attempts at literary theming – such as superficial references to Kafka in Prague’s souvenir industry – fail to generate authentic engagement, highlighting the importance of meaningful narrative integration.

While elements such as AR, gamification or transmedia storytelling are individually not new, Literary Brandscaping repositions them within a broader framework of narrative-driven spatial branding. This integration – and the intentional branding logic behind it – distinguishes it from isolated technological applications or traditional literary itineraries. This perspective allows a deeper understanding of how literary narratives shape real and symbolic geographies. Literary Brandscaping contributes not only to the technology itself but also a way to interpret and design these tools as extensions of narrative identity and symbolic value.

In literary tourism, literary brandscaping extends beyond the traditional identification of locations associated with authors or literary works. The real question is where a story takes place and how these places gain new narrative layers. Visiting an author’s house or strolling through the streets that inspired a novel is no longer enough; the potential lies in how these spaces are transformed, allowing readers to remember a book and feel part of it.

The potential of Literary Brandscaping extends beyond tourism, suggesting new ways of experiencing literature through curated, participatory formats. When expanded into immersive or spatial environments, narratives foster multidimensional engagement-bringing readers, places and stories into dynamic interplay. However, this process requires critical curation. If reduced to a marketing strategy without literary sensitivity, there is a risk of oversimplifying complex narratives to fit preconceived place-branding agendas. The value of Literary Brandscaping lies precisely in its capacity to elevate stories, not dilute them-transforming both places and texts through meaningful experiential design.

Despite its transformative potential, Literary Brandscaping raises ethical concerns. When branding logic overtakes narrative integrity, literary works risk being reduced to simplified, marketable formats, undermining cultural depth and artistic nuance. These tensions must be carefully negotiated in the curatorial process.

This is why curating these initiatives is crucial. It is not just about creating immersive experiences for the sake of creating them but ensuring that these experiences add value to the work and broaden the reader’s relationship with the text. Literary Brandscaping opens new avenues for cultural production, tourism, and critical theory by reinterpreting literature as a branding force with spatial agency. Its challenge is preserving literary depth while expanding narrative meaning into lived, shared environments. As such, it invites future scholars to rethink how we curate, experience, and inhabit stories.

Literary Brandscaping offers a critical framework for analysing how literature operates as a brand-capable of generating symbolic value, shaping spatial narratives, and fostering emotional engagement. It goes beyond the use of technology or themed itineraries to explore how stories strategically transform places into cultural assets. This concept contributes to the study of literary tourism by revealing how literature can function as a vehicle for place branding, narrative identity, and experiential design.

How to cite this entry: Arantes, L. (2025). Literary Brandscaping. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59