Abstract
ABSTRACT The long-running French detective series Engrenages/Spiral (2005–2020) anticipates and participates in the changing ecosystem of French TV, one that transnationalises and hybridises content in a global marketplace. Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust) is one of many female detectives who emerge in this era. Through carefully crafting realist settings for its convoluted narratives, Engrenages enmeshes Berthaud into a professional web of dependency and rivalry, working not only with fellow detectives but also magistrate François Roban (Philippe Duclos) and lawyer Joséphine Karlsson (Audrey Fleurot). Berthaud and Karlsson are representative of considerable feminist influence in French popular culture in its representation of female characters in profes sional roles. However, in S06 they both undergo experiences which pit their female embodiment against their professional success. The series thus both celebrates and punishes its female protagonists for their transgressions, echoing and constituting the complex position of feminism in French popular culture. Roban’s brain tumour diagnosis during this season furthers its critical stance on the French justice system and its inability to truly account for human vulnerability in its myth of the autonomous French citizen.
Published Version
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