(Modern) Family Matters Representations of the Family in the US-American Television Sitcom [engl.] (051105)- Dozent/in
- David Höwelkröger
- Angaben
- Seminar, 2 SWS, BA Deutsch 3S-NDL/Medien; Fachergänzung ndlMedienFE02-02a; ggf. FE Nordamerika-Studien
Zeit und Ort: Mi 14:15 - 15:45, LS1 - R.209b
vom 17.4.2024 bis zum 10.7.2024
- Inhalt
- Since the dawn of television in the late 1940s to 50s, sitcoms have not only provided a source of entertainment for domestic US-American households. They also can serve as fictional frameworks for a social order as they mirror the everyday life of the characters (c.f. Balke 2015). This way, they shape social values, norms, and images of American society (cf. e.g. Dechert 2018, 6). Whether it is the heteronormative so-called nuclear family that populates the suburbs in the post-war years in Father Knows Best (Ed James, 19541960, CBS/NBC) or the upper-middle-class African-American Family in The Cosby Show (Bill Cosby/Ed. Weinberger/Michael J. Leeson 19841992 NBC). In the late 80s, viewers got to see a more realistic portrayal of lower-class households in Roseanne (Matt Williams, 19881997, ABC), compared to sitcoms from previous decades (e.g. All in the Family [Norman Lear/Johnny Speight CBS, 19711997]).
This led to cartoon versions of family sitcoms like The Simpsons (Matt Groening, 1989, Fox) that, while at first genuine in its representation of family matters, morphed into a more post-modern and self-aware version of the family sitcom and its tropes in the later seasons. Contemporary examples also adopted a post-modern style through its cinema verité or mockumentary aesthetics (cf. e.g. Savorelli 2010). One such example is Modern Family (Christopher Lloyd/Steven Levitan, 20092020, ABC), a sitcom that also focuses more on patchwork family structures, thus shifting the image of what a family represents in the U.S. on television and in the public consciousness of popular culture.
In this seminar, we will focus on how family is represented as a construct in television sitcoms. Special attention will be paid to the issues of gender, class, and ethnicity, as established in British Cultural Studies (Yousman/Bindig/Dines/Humez 2021). Analyzing the examples named above, among others, we will consider sociological and historical theories to see how the family image has shifted in the televisual landscape over the decades. This will help us to illuminate the ideological role constructions and representations of family in the sitcom have played in shaping the values and frameworks for a social order in U.S. television. (Balke 2016, 203; cf. Brooks, 2005; Chambers, 2001; Farrell; 1999; Tincknell, 2005).
This seminar will be held in English. Your language skills are not that important, rather, you will be encouraged to critically discuss and think about the material were analyzing in class in an open atmosphere.
- Empfohlene Literatur
- Recommended Reading (Selection):
Balke, Gregor (2016): Episoden des Alltäglichen Sitcoms und Gesellschaft: Eine wissenssoziologische und hermeneutische Lektüre: Weilerswist
Brooks, Marla (2005) The American family on television. A Chronology of 121 Shows, 19482004 Jefferson.
Butler, Jeremy G. (2020): The Sitcom [The Television Guide Book]: New York/London.
Chambers, Deborah (2001): Representing the family. London [u.a.]
Dechert, Andre (2018): Dad on TV. Sitcoms, Vaterschaft und das Ideal der Kernfamilie in den USA, 1981-1992: Berlin.
Dinez, Gail/Humes, Jean (Hgg.) (2021) (1995): Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader [6th Edition]: Los Angeles [u.a.]
Farrell, Betty G. (1999): Family: The making of an idea, an institution, and a controversy in
American culture: Boulder.
Leppert, Alice (2019): TV family values. gender, domestic labor, and 1980s sitcoms: New Brunswick
Pugh, Tison (2020): The Queer Fantasies of the American Family Sitcom: New Brunswick
Savorelli (2010): Beyond Sitcom. New Directions in American Television Comedy: Jefferson.
Spigel, Lynn (1992): Make room for TV. Television and the family ideal in postwar America: Chicago.
Tincknell, Estella (2005): Mediating the Family: Gender, Culture, and Representation: London.
- Zusätzliche Informationen
- Erwartete Teilnehmerzahl: 30
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