Case Studies as a Heuristic of Intermediality

While it recognizes that there does not currently exist a generally accepted, unifying theory of intermediality, this chapter aims to shed light on the ways in which at least one area of intermedial research has come to constitute itself through a process of simultaneously collective and cumulative inquiry. Taking as a starting point the Montreal-based, international, and peer-reviewed journal Intermédialités/Intermediality – the sole journal dedicated entirely to intermedial inquiry – this contribution explores how case studies published between the journal’s inception in 2003 and the time of writing (2022) have given rise to a heuristic of intermediality. In particular, the chapter builds on the recommendations formulated by Jean-Claude Passeron and Jacques Revel in their 2005 book Penser par cas to “highlight [...] the reciprocal implication that takes place between the articulation of theory and the unfolding of inquiry.” By seeking to identify the “descriptive concepts” that have allowed “previously unobservable phenomena” to be deciphered, it aims to reflect on the multiple ways in which the collective process of knowledge gathering promoted by the journal’s investment in case studies gives rise to a “theoretical reconfiguration” whose specific empirical, provisional, and circumstantial character remains rooted in particularity. By delving into the archive of articles of a singular journal – one that was born from a unique geographical, linguistic, and disciplinary context – the chapter also performs itself as a “case study” acting, in turn, as an open invitation for the (hopefully) ongoing emergence and theorization of more intermedial case studies well into the future.