Genres télévisuels et analyse de la réception

Abstract

The notion of genre, and the precise distinctions it entails, both at the level of television production, and at that of television reception has been too often overlooked, while critics and theoreticians kept arguing about some mythical essence of television. Looking at television in essentialist terms may lead to some brilliant insights. In most cases, it only leads to sterile polemics, preventing any serious analysis of the process of reception. Thus, the notion of an oppositional viewer (a notion developped in regard to political broadcasts) or that of spectatorial pleasure (a useful concept, when it comes to studying fiction) lose not only their relevance, but much of their meaning, when they are indiscriminately applied to the process of reception in general. The author suggests that reception studies should 1) develop specific, genre-related approaches; 2) clarify some of their key concepts., and 3) incorporate social psychologic studies on comprehension processes.