We’re Off to See the Wizard: In Search of Cultural Sustainability

Abstract

Beginning with the remarkable success of the musical Wicked, this chapter poses our central question: How has Oz managed to sustain itself for over a century? The chapter then provides an overview of the multi-disciplinary framework through which we seek to answer this question and thus build toward an expanded theory of cultural sustainability. We consider Oz’s narrative vitality through the lenses of adaptation theory, fanfiction studies, and discussions of convergence culture and remediation, and its commercial vitality as framed by macromarketing, Consumer Culture Theory, and experiential marketing. We end by explaining how our work contributes to larger discussions about Oz and in Consumer Culture Theory.