Soaps and Sitcoms: Realism, Representation, Ideology

Representation and ideology

Reality Check

Realism as a framework for studying TV:Is TV realistic? Does it have to do with “reality”? How realistic

is it?

Representation and ideology

example: soap opera realism?

Representation and ideology

different kinds and sources of realism:

Kinds/dimensions of “realism”

- believability/credibility- plausibility- probability- actuality- verisimilitude- truthfulness- naturalism

Kinds/dimensions of “realism”

psychological individualismcommon sense/the “normal”

Kinds/dimensions of “realism”

psychological individualismcommon sense/the “normal”

... ideological assumptions which are generated through representation

Representation and ideology

Stuart Hall: language as a model for the production of meaning in culture

representation > signification > signs > reading etc.

Representation and ideology

Stuart Hall: language as a model for the production of meaning in culture

representation > signification > signs > reading etc.convention(s)code(s)arbitrariness

Representation and ideology

... meaning:relocated into • arbitrary closure of meaning = ideology• social practices of producing meaning

The “Circuit of Culture”

Paul Du Gay, Stuart Hall, Linda Janes, Hugh Mackay, und Keith Negus. Doing Cultural Studies. The Story of the Sony Walkman. London: Sage/The Open University, 1997.

representation

identity

production

consumption

regulation

Representation and ideology

... meaning:relocated into • arbitrary closure of meaning = ideology• social practices of producing meaning

... influence of anthropology: rituals, performativity

Realism and representation

Graeme Burton: “Modes and conventions of realism are linked to genres. Degrees of naturalism and authenticity attach themselves to soaps, but horror stories do not assume naturalism, indeed they allow for a degree of fantasy and we adjust our expectations accordingly.”