Television Fiction Research Articles

'I guess I do have to take back what I said before, about television': pregnant women's understandings and use of televisual representations of childbearing.

Research on television as a source of childbearing information is divided on its importance. Drawing from a sample of 64 pregnant women in the greater New York and Connecticut metropolitan area, we examine how women understand the influence of television on their expectations for pregnancy and birth. A sizable minority (44%) regularly watched reality television programmes on childbearing; all engaged in active viewing practices, such as recognising programme formula and evaluating plausibility of depictions. We find clear educational differences in how viewers believed television influenced their pregnancy knowledge: women with higher levels of education generally disavowed all television as an information source, but used reality programming to educate their children about pregnancy and for entertainment. Women who had lower educational attainment were more likely to include reality programmes as part of their comprehensive approach to information gathering. Only one woman asserted that fictional television was a good source of pregnancy information. Although many devalued television, women referenced television programmes and imagery as they described their expectations and concerns for pregnancy. A large proportion of respondents were unaware of the influence television exerted on them. Health scholars must better engage with the complexities of media use.

The contributions of semiotics to the study of television fiction: the case of the miniseries Justiça

Nos últimos anos, a TV brasileira vem seguindo uma tendência mundial ao aumentar a produção de seriados. Boa parte deles conta com alto investimento técnico e apresenta tentativas de inovação da teledramaturgia. Para observar esse fenômeno, o artigo analisa, com base nas ferramentas da semiótica greimasiana, a minissérie Justiça, exibida em 2016 pela Rede Globo. Busca-se problematizar a relação entre a estrutura narrativa da série e a estratégia enunciativa usada na transmissão, a saber, a distribuição dos diferentes pontos de vista pelos dias da semana. Investiga-se de que modo tal estratégia confere densidade aspectual ao enunciado e que efeitos de sentido daí derivam.

Recent history of Chile in three television fiction works: An audiovisual and thematic analysis

En els darrers deu anys s’ha produit un canvi significatiu a la televisio xilena basat en la produccio i emissio de series de ficcio nacionals. Los 80 , Los archivos del Cardenal i El reemplazante son produccions audiovisuals destacades d’aquest fenomen. Aquestes series, a traves de les quals podem coneixer, en part, la historia de Xile dels ultims quaranta anys, han destacat pel reconeixement de la qualitat artistica, els alts indexs d’audiencia i el debat social que han suscitat. En aquest article s’analitzen les tres series des de la perspectiva del contingut i l’audiovisual. Aquestes ficcions configuren un periode historic a traves de tres tematiques diferents: la vida en dictadura, la violacio dels drets humans i la desigualtat social enunciada en l’actual crisi de l’educacio. Els resultats permeten observar que aquestes series van mes enlla de l’entreteniment i proposen en els arguments temes complexos i controvertits per a la societat xilena. La proposta audiovisual es construeix buscant la versemblanca del relat a traves de la posada en escena, l’us d’imatges d’arxiu o la captacio del so directe, entre altres recursos formals.

Invisible golden girls? Post-feminist discourses and female ageing bodies in contemporary television fiction

The popular television series The Golden Girls (1985–1992) seems to be an exception in the history of the representation of third-age women femininities and bodies in television fiction. This series about four mature women living in the same house in Miami made ageing women visible in television representations. Older women are generally invisible in popular television fiction. Despite this absence, a discourse on ageing and femininities is present in all sorts of popular media texts. We will question post-feminist discourses on ageing bodies and femininities. Are the post-feminist claims regarding ageing bodies present in popular television fiction? Moreover, are these discourses represented by the portrayal of ageing bodies? We will analyse the representations of ageing femininities in television fiction labelled as “post-feminist television fiction.” The series Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and Girls will be studied using a textual analysis to look for discourses on ageing female bodies and their particularities in relation to post-feminism. We distinguished a limited set of three sets of discourses (losing femininity, masking of ageing, and the wisdom of ageing) on ageing femininities. Although ageing feminine bodies are absent, a discourse on ageing, “good” ageing, and acceptance of ageing is present in the narration in all three series. The discourse on the masking of ageing, however, is predominant.

Stefanie Armbruster, Watching Nostalgia: An Analysis of Nostalgic Television Fiction and its Reception

<i>Stefanie Armbruster</i>, Watching Nostalgia: An Analysis of Nostalgic Television Fiction and its Reception

Laughing with / at the national self: Greek television satire and the politics of self-disparagement

ABSTRACTThis study engages with the cultural consequences of the self-disparaging politics of television satire. It focuses on an emblematic program of Greek television fiction, Oi Afthairetoi (MEGA channel, 1989–1991) and the ways it both constructs and ridicules a particular version of the Greek self, the “Neoellinas”. By proposing a wider understanding of the political side-effects of television satire, which have so far been mainly addressed within the study of political satire, it turns the attention toward the role of satirical discourse in a public’s view on its national self in times of change or transition. More specifically, while it recognizes the contradictory impact that satire can have on society, it applies the concept of “satiric misfire” as a means to understand satirical endeavors which reinforce rather than counter the problematics they set out to fight against in the first place.

Screenings

The seventh edition of the Statistical Yearbook of Mexican Cinema, which covers 2016, was launched at the Guadalajara International Film Festival by IMCINE (Instituto Méxicano de Cinematografía), the national film institute. Some months later the eleventh edition of the Ibero-American Observatory of Television Fiction, also devoted to 2016, was presented by international research group OBITEL (Ibero-American Observatory of Television Fiction) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Both surveys compile exhaustive quantitative data and track qualitative trends in their respective media. This year, the pair offer invaluable evidence for evolution and convergence in the Mexican (and Spanish American) audiovisual field, thereby providing an account of the most important trends. Sometimes the findings can be counterintuitive, proving for example that (contrary to industry complaints) the Mexican government does indeed strongly support cinema and that (contrary to journalistic rumors of its demise) broadcast television is by no means dead in the region. But the handbooks also provide essential context for Netflix's first production in Mexico — and one of the most important and innovative series of recent years — the soccer comedy, Club de Cuervos ([Crows Club], 2015–). In keeping with this changing scene, OBITEL focused its case study of transmedia on Netflix's limited series Club de Cuervos. As noted in the handbook, the producers' aim was to avoid “telenovelizing” its content. Club de Cuervos exemplifies the trends seen in current Mexican film and television production, even as it blurs the distinction between the two in typical Netflix fashion. Mexican industry insiders still resent the U.S. domination of film distribution in theaters, and Club de Cuervos raises those stakes.

Liquid Surfaces

Exploring the interactions between liquid surfaces and their relationship to the figure of the fille fatale in dark genres of film and television, this paper suggests that the liquid surface not only disrupts our understanding of architecture as a static structural envelope, but also acts to destabilise the image of the innocent girl in science fiction and horror films and television. The discussion focuses on three relatively recent depictions of young girls who confront (or are forced to confront) the liquid surface: Mitsuko’s submersion in the water vessels of an apartment building in Dark Water (2002), Ofelia and the muddy interior of the tree in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and the watery floor of Eleven’s psychic state in Stranger Things (2016). Working with Jill Stoner’s understanding of minor architectures and their ability to deterritorialise both physical structures and structures of power, the paper asks to what extent the liquid surface encounters of Ofelia, Mitsuko and Eleven exist as reflections of each character’s experiences, or as currents of agency through which the fille fatale reshapes her world. In doing so the research considers the ways in which fictional liquid surfaces operate as a visual minor architecture that elicits a questioning of social and physical norms.

Reconceptualizing Cultivation: Implications for Testing Relationships Between Fiction Exposure and Self-Reported Alcohol Use Evaluations

ABSTRACTThis article responds to calls for conceptual clarification in the media effects domain by providing a definition for attitudinal cultivation effects. Our definition contains 5 core characteristics: the (a) linear effects of (b) repeated media exposure on (c) the evaluation as given by memory associations (d) strengthened by and (e) valenced in line with those media messages. We reason that, when accepting this definition, the cultivation hypothesis predicts effects of repeated media use on evaluations to primarily occur at the level of gut evaluations given by automatically activated memory associations. Corroborating this logic for the effects of alcohol use portrayals in television fiction, we find the relationship between fiction exposure and self-reported alcohol use evaluations to be (a) moderated by speed of expressing those evaluations and (b) mediated by responses to self-reports tapping into gut feelings. The implications of these findings for future media effects studies are discussed.

Comunidades de fans y ficción televisiva. Estudio de caso: El ministerio del tiempo (TVE)

Fan communities are increasingly important to television fiction series. The department of time television series (TVE) is examined in relation to this trend, with a focus on social networks. A sample of approximately 3,600 people calling themselves “ministerics” participated in the study. The analysis is carried out in the context of the convergence of media and transmedia, where the Net exerts particular influence on their program strategies and their contents, an it is focused to the production and promotion of audiovisual creations aimed at a general audience. This research is of special interest within the field of fan studies because it confirms the intensity and diversity of fans and shows the relevance that it has in national television, particularly in public television.

Memoria cultural y ficción audiovisual en la era de la televisión en streaming. Una exploración en torno a la serie Narcos como relato de memoria transnacional

En este trabajo se delinean algunos ejes de reflexión crítica en torno al potencial de la ficción televisiva en la construcción de la memoria cultural y en la articulación de dinámicas de transferencia del recuerdo a escala transnacional. Particularmente, se aborda este asunto a partir de la serie Narcos (2015), una producción original de Netflix, empresa de televisión en streaming de alcance global.

La reapropiación del cuerpo de las mujeres en la ficción televisiva. Análisis de "Orange is the New Black"

Tradicionalmente, la ficción televisiva estereotipa e invisibiliza a las mujeres, con una representación muy ligada a una exhibición como objeto pasivo dedicado al placer masculino. No obstante, la Tercera Edad Dorada también posibilita el nacimiento de producciones de que quiebran este modelo androcéntrico normativo, donde se encuentra Orange is the New Black (Netflix, 2013‑). Así, mediante la aplicación del Análisis Crítico del Discurso desde una Perspectiva Feminista se examinarán las alocuciones en torno a la sexualidad y los cuerpos de las mujeres a partir de dos episodios paradigmáticos en este sentido: A Whole Other Hole (204) y Fear, and Other Smells (308). A partir de este análisis se concluye que la serie dirigida por Jenji Kohan permite una reapropiación de las sexualidades y de los cuerpos de las mujeres a través de una representación diversa de las mujeres y de la quiebra de los silencios que el patriarcado ha impuesto sobre sus realidades.

Between Portland and Seattle. The Civilized Monster in Grimm and IZombie

Contemporary cities have become a recurring space in television fiction. Many of these cities represent real-life scenes, but they introduce fantastic beings, which sometimes destabilize the foundations of everyday life, meaning an inevitable comparison between the discourses of logos and mythos. With the aim of understanding how this dialectical relationship between cities and monsters is produced, this paper analyses the TV shows Grimm and iZombie, which are set in Portland and Seattle respectively. Both fictions show different types of fantastic beings, thus the first example recovers German fable monsters, while the second case explores the ravages of a zombie infection. Therefore, the goal of this study is the completion of narrative analysis, focused on the settings and characters, analyzing how they interact and if the perception of the real cities represented is changed.

Domesticating pathogenies, evaluating change: the Eurozone crisis as a ‘hot moment’ in Greek television fiction

This article investigates how the Eurozone crisis is thematically negotiated in a popular Greek television comedy. Inspired by the increasing interest in the ideological role of news media during the Eurozone crisis of the late 2000s, it turns the spotlight on the sphere of entertainment in an attempt to address the importance of fictional mediations and meaning-making processes. To that end, it proposes an understanding of television fiction as an accommodator and shaper of ‘hot moments’, instigating processes of self-assessment and evaluation of change. More specifically, the study examines the ways in which the family comedy Piso sto Spiti (MEGA Channel, 2011–2013) provides culturally based understandings of the Eurozone crisis by depicting it as associated with inherent flaws of the modern Greek and by assessing the possibility of change through a juxtaposition with national ‘others’. At the same time, it identifies ways that ideology leaks from television fiction in its interaction with other media discourses simultaneously circulating within a society.

Noveleiros on-line: como os fãs podem transformar uma novela em cult

In everyday conversation and in the social networks, we may come across the term cult in reference to people, places, movies or television programs. In this paper, we propose a few conceptualizations about the notion of cult TV, applied to Brazilian television fiction, and particularly soap operas. The first section focuses on the theoretical dialogue between authors who discuss the concept of cult TV (Pearson, 2010; Hills, 2010) and who point out the relationship between the expression and the innovative or critical content of a narrative, its nostalgic appeal or, mainly, to fan engagement. Then, we describe the empirical research carried out in three stages: 1) analysis of tweets in order to draw a parallel between the theoretical conceptualizations and the use of the term by the viewers; 2) questionnaire administered in online networks that pointed out which soap operas were considered as cult by viewers; and 3) focal group discussing the reasons why those soap operas were mentioned. Based on these guidelines, the paper highlights fans’ investment in one of the most cited productions in the questionnaire, Avenida Brasil, a recent production that made visible the link between the concept of cult and fans’ manifestations online. As a result, the paper contributes to the theoretical conceptualization of cult, opens a dialogue between international theories and the Brazilian context and shows, from the point of view of viewers, how fans can turn a soap opera into a cult.

Rod Serling’s Vast Promised Land: Battling Sponsors, Debating the FCC and Fighting for Mature Television, 1959–1966

This article explores the ‘public’ television career of Rod Serling, drawing upon the collection of his papers held by the Winsonsin Historical Society, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Serling is best known as creator of the science fiction television anthology series The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) but his place in American television history is not defined solely by that one series. The article demonstrates how Serling responded to the changing institutional and cultural contexts of television broadcasting. It focuses in particular on his appearances before the Federal Communications Commission and his advocacy of creative freedom against censorial and sponsors’ intervention. It concludes with an assessment of Serling’s place in television history and his role as a ‘godfather’ of American Quality Television.

Representaciones de la sexualidad femenina en la ficción televisiva española

The overrepresentation of sexual content on television and the debate raised by new femininities have transformed research on sexuality and TV fiction into a fruitful field of study. Content analyses demonstrate that television fiction offers a distorted image of sexuality and that information on relevant sex issues is barely considered. This article analyzes the sexual representations of female characters in Spanish TV fiction using a hybrid method that combines SPSS Statistics tools and socio-semiotics. The sample consists of 709 female characters from all the shows premiered in 2012 and 2013. The sexual activity of the female characters is related to physical attractiveness and age, with the exception of children and adolescents. Young female characters in the sample identify empowerment with sexual assertiveness and control, while sexual depictions of women over 45 are almost non-existent. Sexual relations are presented as the “natural” outcome of romantic relationships and seduction.

La recepción televisiva española en la era multipantalla

Este artículo estudia la recepción de la ficción televisiva española mediante una combinación de técnicas de análisis offline (cuestionarios y focus group) y online (comentarios en Internet). Los resultados del análisis offline revelan el carácter complementario y especializado de los dispositivos, aunque el análisis online no aporta evidencias sobre el impacto de las segundas pantallas en los procesos de socialización, ni sobre la construcción de identidad femenina.

Following the viewers: Investigating television drama engagement through skin conductance measurements

This article describes an empirical study of viewer emotional engagement with the first episode of the television fiction series Follow the Money (DR, 2015), a crime melodrama. The study combines applied and academic audience research and investigates real-time viewer responses by measuring and analysing skin conductance (SC) responses as an indicator of emotional arousal. The article outlines a framework for analysing emotion and arousal in television viewer engagement. It then describes SC measurements and the difference between tonic and phasic measurements. Two primary SC measures that indicate emotional engagement are derived, i.e. average phasic skin conductance response and the average number of emotionally arousing events pr. second. In our findings, both of these measures indicate a slight linear upwards trend and qualitative data is brought in to contextualize the quantitative findings. The study demonstrates how SC measures, formal analysis, and qualitative methods can be combined and the article ends with an outline of how future studies might adopt parts of the research design to further integrate applied audience research, audience research in media psychology, and cognitive film theory.

Law, the Digital and Time: The Legal Emblems of Doctor Who

This article is about time. It is about time, or more precisely, about the absence of time in law’s digital future. It is also about time travelling and the seemingly ever-popular BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Further, it is about law’s timefullness; about law’s pictorial past and the ‘visual baroque’ of its chronological fused future. Ultimately, it is about a time paradox of seeing time run to a time when time runs ‘No More!’ This ‘timey-wimey’ article is in three parts. The first part looks to a hazy remembered past of the legal emblem tradition as presented in Peter Goodrich’s Legal Emblems and the Art of Law to learn visual literacy and also to glimpse the essential elements of modern legality with authority, decision and violence. The second part maps how these images and icons of modern legality are manifest in the Doctor Who fiftieth year anniversary special ‘The Day of the Doctor.’ The third stage looks beyond these first order meanings to understand the chronological chaos of ‘The Day of the Doctor.’ The technicity of the image as a portal through time and space that the narrative revolves around charts the implications for the digital end of time for law.