Papers by Ibrahim (Bram) Er, Ph.D.
Series. International journal of tv serial narratives, 2016
In their book Reading Television (1978: 64-5), John Fiske and John Hartley define television as a... more In their book Reading Television (1978: 64-5), John Fiske and John Hartley define television as a medium that provides the members of a particular community with a “confirming, reinforcing version of themselves.” Although the introduction of the unfamiliar and innovative via televisual productions is a business imperative as well as a cultural necessity today, television continues to function as a mirror of its receiving society, and provide its viewers with culturally appropriate content through its various semiotic modes of communication situated within the visual, verbal, and sound tracks. Televisual productions, in this sense, can be viewed as one of the most salient multimodal texts through which our everyday politics are continuously materialized, fictionalized, and rendered into an entertaining popular language that shapes our everyday perceptions and expectations. Transnational format adaptations, in particular, stand out as ample content-rich texts in which the processes of...
View : Journal of European Television History and Culture, 2016
This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of televisio... more This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of television formats. Digital tools are used to derive quantitative data based on temporal parameters of episode or genre of the narrative structure, content, and sequencing. Type one, which we also call “transposed narratives,” retains the narrative structure and sequencing while extending and expanding the narrative structure to readjust to longer broadcast times. Type two, which we call ‘transmutated narratives,’ re-distributes and re-organizes the narrative structure and sequencing to adjust to both extended broadcast time and other culturally relevant proximity issues. Type three adaptations display genre structure similarities while narrative structure, sequencing and content diverge. These we call ‘derived narratives.’
Text & Talk, 2020
This article highlights the importance of multimodality in the study of discourse with a discussi... more This article highlights the importance of multimodality in the study of discourse with a discussion of a segment from the Turkish adaptation of the global television format, The Voice. In the segment under discussion, a contestant is disqualified from the show by the host for her allegedly disrespectful style of speech towards the coaches. Departing from traditional (sociolinguistic) critical discourse analysis, the article seeks to unveil the deep power discourse hidden in the multimodal landscape of the show by extending the scope of discourse analysis to include both linguistic and non-linguistic modes of communication and representation such as the camerawork, and mise-en-scene. The findings shed light on the inherently asymmetrical nature of the show and how the contestant's highly non-standard language and manners are demonized (multimodally) while the coaches and the host find a relatively less judgmental environment as the “authority” in the show.
This dissertation examines cultural adaptations of transnational television series as a means to ... more This dissertation examines cultural adaptations of transnational television series as a means to study how media globalization plays out at the local/national level. Through a critical perspective, the study investigates if and how cultural adaptations contribute to the maintenance of the politico-cultural status quo and discusses their potential for disrupting existing ideological formations by inspiring the audience to engage in critical self-reflections. Focusing on contemporary localized versions of global television in Turkey, the study explores how cultural adaptations perpetuate existing relations of power, especially amidst intense socio-economic transformation. The study particularly scrutinizes the ways in which cultural adaptations of television dramas, one of the most popular TV genres in Turkey, affirm or challenge cultural norms of authority and gender. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis as its analytical framework, the dissertation offers a comprehensive stu...
TV Formats and Format Research
This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of televisio... more This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of television formats. Digital tools are used to derive quantitative data based on temporal parameters of episode or genre of the narrative structure, content, and sequencing. Type one, which we also call “transposed narratives,” retains the narrative structure and sequencing while extending and expanding the narrative structure to readjust to longer broadcast times. Type two, which we call ‘transmutated narratives,’ re-distributes and re-organizes the narrative structure and sequencing to adjust to both extended broadcast time and other culturally relevant proximity issues. Type three adaptations display genre structure similarities while narrative structure, sequencing and content diverge. These we call ‘derived narratives.’
TV Formats and Format Research
This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of televisio... more This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of television formats. Digital tools are used to derive quantitative data based on temporal parameters of episode or genre of the narrative structure, content, and sequencing. Type one, which we also call “transposed narratives,” retains the narrative structure and sequencing while extending and expanding the narrative structure to readjust to longer broadcast times. Type two, which we call ‘transmutated narratives,’ re-distributes and re-organizes the narrative structure and sequencing to adjust to both extended broadcast time and other culturally relevant proximity issues. Type three adaptations display genre structure similarities while narrative structure, sequencing and content diverge. These we call ‘derived narratives.’
Text & Talk (De Gruyter Mouton), 2020
This article highlights the importance of multimodality in the study of discourse with a discussi... more This article highlights the importance of multimodality in the study of discourse with a discussion of a segment from the Turkish adaptation of the global television format, The Voice. In the segment under discussion, a contestant is disqualified from the show by the host for her allegedly disrespectful style of speech towards the coaches. Departing from traditional (sociolinguistic) critical discourse analysis, the article seeks to unveil the deep power discourse hidden in the multimodal landscape of the show by extending the scope of discourse analysis to include both linguistic and non-linguistic modes of communication and representation such as the camerawork, and mise-en-scene. The findings shed light on the inherently asymmetrical nature of the show and how the contestant’s highly non-standard language and manners are demonized (multimodally) while the coaches and the host find a relatively less judgmental environment as the “authority” in the show.
Keywords: reality TV, The Voice, multimodal critical discourse analysis, power discourse, style of speech, authority
This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of televisio... more This article elucidates a typology for cross-culturally comparing different versions of television formats. Digital tools are used to derive quantitative data based on temporal parameters of episode or genre of the narrative structure, content, and sequencing. Type one, which we also call " transposed narratives, " retains the narrative structure and sequencing while extending and expanding the narrative structure to readjust to longer broadcast times. Type two, which we call 'transmutated narratives,' redistributes and reorganizes the narrative structure and sequencing to adjust to both extended broadcast time and other culturally relevant proximity issues. Type three adaptations display genre structure similarities while narrative structure, sequencing and content diverge. These we call 'derived narratives.'
A Funnier Monk: A Multimodal Approach to Transnational TV Series Adaptations, Jun 17, 2016
In their book Reading Television (1978: 64-5), John Fiske and John Hartley define television as a... more In their book Reading Television (1978: 64-5), John Fiske and John Hartley define television as a medium that provides the members of a particular community with a “confirming, reinforcing version of themselves.” Although the introduction of the unfamiliar and innovative via televisual productions is a business imperative as well as a cultural necessity today, television continues to function as a mirror of its receiving society, and provide its viewers with culturally appropriate content through its various semiotic modes of communication situated within the visual, verbal, and sound tracks. Televisual productions, in this sense, can be viewed as one of the most salient multimodal texts through which our everyday politics are continuously materialized, fictionalized, and rendered into an entertaining popular language that shapes our everyday perceptions and expectations. Transnational format adaptations, in particular, stand out as ample content- rich texts in which the processes of localization and appropriation, realized through individual semiotic choices made by producers, manifest themselves. It is the goal of this paper to trace back such semiotic choices made during the re-production phase of transnational format adaptations, and reveal sociocultural and political interventions in meaning making at the time, through a multimodal analysis of an American comedy crime series, Monk, and its Turkish adaptation, Galip Derviş.
Uploads
Papers by Ibrahim (Bram) Er, Ph.D.
Keywords: reality TV, The Voice, multimodal critical discourse analysis, power discourse, style of speech, authority
Keywords: reality TV, The Voice, multimodal critical discourse analysis, power discourse, style of speech, authority