2017-2018-1

ANAMBA881-4

_Szeminárium, _Gyakorlati jegy

ANAMBA88, Any Course Seminar (Excluding Language)

ANAMBA88, Any Course Seminar (Excluding Language)

Angol-Amerikai Intézet (BTK Bölcsészettudományi Kar)

heti 2.00

3

nincs korlát

konfirmálandó

As the principal storyteller in contemporary American society – as well as in many other contemporary societies – television is replete with narrative forms and genres. It is not only the sitcom, the action series, the cartoon, the soap opera, the miniseries, the made-for-TV movie that clearly show narrative traits. Even types of programs which appear to be far less likely as narratives – such as advertisements, music videos or nature documentaries – often tell a story, though these stories admittedly vary considerably in terms of how elaborate they are. By making use of the narratological toolkit and by bringing in the formal and institutional characteristics of the audiovisual medium television, the course will first look at some basic categories and concepts for a narratological analysis of TV narratives. Second, we will look closely at some American TV series in order to explore both the wide range of narrative forms TV series have made use of in recent years, and the complex interplay between form and content.

Topics to be covered
Authentifying vs. subjectifying narrative strategies; television genres and their narrative strategies; multi-layered characterization and multi-layered narratives; representations of gender; reel vs. real; contemporary US television series vs. Hollywood narrative films

Selected readings
Allen, Robert C., ed. Channels of Discourse Reassembled. Television and Contemporary Criticism. London: Routledge, 1992.
Allrath, Gaby and Marion Gymnich, eds. Narrative Strategies in Television Series. New York: Palgrave, 2005.